Melody of Fire
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: When Newt is called in to remove a creature from a local tribe's sacred grounds, he had no idea that he will come across the most extraordinary creature he would ever encounter. There's just one catch...the dragon he finds is none other than a witch from well over sixty years in the future. Can he mend her broken heart from all the pain she ran away from? Fem Harry/Newt
1. Chapter 1

When Newt was asked (through a rather headache-inducing game of charades and very poor English) to investigate a 'dangerous animal' that had taken residence in the local tribe's sacred birthing grounds, he honestly did not expect what he found.

An absolutely massive unknown breed of dragon with deep red scales curled up taking a nap.

The beast was far larger than any other breed of dragon he had ever seen in his life...and too big for him to safely put in his case. He was almost dreading the inevitable difficulty he was going to have getting it to leave, much less dealing with how cranky it was sure to be when he had to wake the thing up.

But not before he got a decent sketch of the creature. It was too magnificent not to capture for future generations to admire.

Considering how absorbed he was in properly capturing the creature on paper, he could be excused for missing the fact the dragon had woken up and in a surprising amount of stealth, had managed to sneak up on him.

He only picked up on that fact when he realized that the shadow and odd breeze hadn't been there a few minutes ago.

Newt squawked, and drew his wand in alarm.

If a dragon could pout, then this beast was making a very amusing attempt at it. Newt would have been highly amused by the sight if he wasn't so alarmed.

It dragged a large claw towards his pad, and it took Newt several moments to figure out what it wanted.

"You... you want to see my drawing?" he asked carefully.

The dragon managed to snag his pad and 'delicately' managed to drag it towards them. It squinted a bit at the picture.

Newt, mostly out of the surreal nature of what was happening, helpfully enlarged the pad so it could see the picture properly. He would almost swear the creature was purring with delight, as he had gotten most of the details correct. He couldn't help but be struck by how vibrant and alive the dragon's eyes were. They were a beautiful shade of green that was almost the same color of emeralds when hit by the light.

Now that he was able to observe the dragon closer, he could see that the scales were a deep, beautiful red color... however it wasn't a blood red. The shade was a bit off. The spikes were sharp and a deep ebony color and ran down the spine of the dragon, ending in a wickedly sharp tail that flared open to reveal several long spikes that 'folded' back into itself when the dragon realized he was properly admiring it. The talons were sharp, but it appeared that the poor thing hadn't been able to care for itself properly as Newt could see a few were cracked. The teeth had to be at least a foot long _each_, with the front fangs being a bit longer. Closer inspection revealed that the wings were attached to the forelimbs, rather than being a seperate pair.

Newt didn't _dare_ to find out what gender the creature was, but the dimensions of the face and the fact it wasn't overly aggressive made him believe it was a female. He had seen many dragons, and the one before him held several similar characteristics of the females of several different breeds.

It didn't not change the fact that this creature was the _largest_ specimen he had ever encounter, and far more intelligent than any other dragon he had come across. Most of them would have happily attempted to eat him, rather than admire his drawing or allow him close enough to observe it's form so passively.

Which was why Newt decided to try something that would have his brother very exasperated...even if he did laugh about it later when he found out the full truth.

"Excuse me, milady," said Newt carefully, praying to Merlin that the creature understood English. "But your presence is alarming the local tribes. This is their sacred grounds and they would like to have access to it. I'm afraid they will not take well to you attempting to claim it as your new den."

This time he could definitively state the dragon was pouting, and looked at the spot it had been napping with some longing.

"It's a pity I can't shrink you. I certainly wouldn't mind a beautiful specimen such as yourself napping, so long as you don't eat the rest of the creatures I've saved," said Newt with a sigh.

Unfortunately dragons were _highly_ magic-resistent, and this was the most interesting specimen he had come across.

So you could imagine his amazement when the dragon huffed in annoyance. It seemed to curl in on itself, and much to the shock of the poor Mythozoologist, began to _shrink_ to dimensions that were far more in line with dragons he had come across. The beast was now far closer to a rather large, full-sized female Horntail.

On an unrelated note, she would be able to fit inside his case now, since she clearly understood English.

Newt cautiously opened his case, and the dragon went inside before promptly finding a place to continue it's nap.

He would have to pinch himself several times over the next few hours whenever he went to check on the rest of his creatures, mostly to assure himself this wasn't a very strange dream.

On the plus side, the dragon clearly didn't care about the rest of the creatures in his case and was perfectly happy to sleep in the arid desert he had created.

Newt was about to attempt something very dangerous.

He was going to try and treat the odd dragon he had rescued from the misaligned scales it had on it's body. Once he had gotten a much better examination of the dragoness, he had detected several scales that had grown _wrong _and were on the verge of giving the poor thing a very nasty infection, or at the very least scale rot.

The thing was that most dragons could get _very_ tetchy whenever a wizard was trying to treat it and reacted badly even if it was for their own good. Most reserves didn't even bother...they would rather put the dragon down once it got too difficult to handle.

Newt made sure to telegraph his movements. He had found the dragoness _did_ understand English, quite well actually, when he politely inquired if she would be willing to move certain ways or to relocate briefly while he disposed of her 'leavings'.

He still hadn't found a proper name for her, and he had been trying. The problem was that she kept shooting down all his suggestions or would glare at him.

He was becoming _very_ well versed in her expressions, even if she couldn't speak. At least he didn't think she could.

"Beg your pardon milady," Newt began. He had found that she responded best to good manners, which he found a nice surprise. A good thing his mother had raised him with impeccable manners. "But I would like to deal with the scales that are almost certainly causing you no end of frustration, if you would let me."

The dragon gave him a flat look, and huffed. She used her tail to point at one of the worst areas which was right against her spine and the spikes that lined it.

"Yes, areas such as those," he replied. He kept his distance and didn't attempt to go closer, mostly out of common sense.

The dragon lowered her tail and kept still, which Newt took as a sign to approach. He did so cautiously and so as to avoid spilling the potion he had brewed to help prevent an infection from setting in once he removed the bad scales.

She suddenly stuck her nose right above the closest bucket and sniffed suspiciously. Newt stayed perfectly still, allowing her to examine the contents, before she lowered her head again and allowed him to approach. He made very sure to keep his wand firmly in the holster, as she had shown a distinct wariness whenever he had it out and aimed anywhere near her.

Carefully, methodically he began to loosen the bad scales and add the salve on top of the recently cleaned areas. Unfortunately he couldn't bandage them, so it would have harden. He could only hope she didn't attempt to nibble at it, because it would be quite bad for her.

Once he was done, he felt tired but relieved. He had gotten the worst of the affected areas, but had run out before he could the more recent ones. He was rather glad she had stayed still long enough for him to work and didn't try to nip at him...he could tell some of it was painful as she had twitched violently during the process.

"There, there," he said gently, in a crooning tone. "That should relieve the worst of the itch."

She gave him a baleful look, and crooned quietly with such a miserable expression that Newt's heart ached to hear it. Without thinking too hard about it, he gently rubbed the scales on her face in a soothing pattern, causing her to sigh in pleasure as her eyes closed and she began to croon again. This time it was in a far happier manner as she nudged her head under his hand.

Newt wasn't about to pass up the chance to stroke a dragon much like an oversized, scaly cat. She was absolutely beautiful and he was grateful to whatever gods were listening that he had found her first. Any other wizard would have attacked her and likely butchered her for parts.

He didn't know _when_ he fell asleep, listening to her crooning, he just remembered waking up against some rather comfortable rocks feeling pleasantly sleepy.

Though he was quite baffled as to who took care of his creatures, because when he checked to see what time it was he found out he had been napping for a solid six hours and he had spent four of them dealing with the scale problem! And yet everyone one of his creatures had been fed, watered and otherwise cared for.

Still, with the way she had crooned and tricked him into taking that nap, Newt _finally_ had an idea of what to call her. Hopefully she would agree to it. That particular dilemma had been keeping him up at night!

Which was why, as he was bringing her some fresh meat to tide her over for the day, he brought it up.

"Would you mind terribly if I called you Melody?" he asked, somewhat hopeful.

The dragoness tilted her head curiously, and had a rather owl-like stare.

"You've rejected and dismissed every name I've come up with for the past week and a half," he reminded her.

The dragon stared him down, but he did not back down from her gaze. He knew better, mostly because he was all too aware she was a predator and such a thing was a good way to get eaten.

She slowly lumbered up, stalked over to him and stared him down with those vibrant green eyes of hers. For several moments he was locked in a stare down that made him think that he was being put through more than just a simple test of dominance.

Finally the dragoness huffed, but not in the same way she had before indicating she wasn't rejecting the name outright. He took that as a good sign.

"Is that your way of approving?" he asked.

The dragoness gave him a flat look, as if to say 'what do you think?'.

Newt was decidedly cheerful, as he finally had a proper name for the dragoness. She was a proud, regal creature with all the bearing of a queen which had made giving her a name all the more difficult.

He hummed a rather popular song from home as he went about caring for his creatures, so he could be excused for taking a few moments to register the fact that the newly dubbed Melody was humming with him. Or at least making her best effort to... a dragon's vocal cords were hardly conductive for singing, after all.

His smile widened slightly, as he realized the name Melody suited her perfectly. He didn't even know dragons could hum like that!

Newt was worried. Melody's appetite had dwindled to almost nothing and she kept looking up towards the 'ceiling' of the case with such longing. Nothing he could do would get her to eat.

It was only when he saw her attempt to fly, but had to stay ground-bound that he realized the issue.

"You want to fly?" he asked carefully.

Melody gave him a miserable look. For the most part she would eat, sleep and do her 'business' in a discreet area which he would clean and then use in his small greenhouse where he kept his plant-based potion ingredients.

Newt was torn. If he allowed Melody out, there was no guarantee she would return, and worse she might be attacked for potion ingredients. She was surprisingly friendly, and acted like a strange mix of a kneazle and a very large dog.

However the expression in her eyes and the clear longing for the sky decided the matter. He was not about to keep her caged because of his own discomfort.

Leading her to the general area where he took the larger creatures out of his case, Newt allowed her to go through. It was a clear night, with an almost full moon illuminating the African wilds.

Melody pranced this way and that, eager to take off. Newt carefully closed and latched his case, so none of the other creatures tried to make an escape attempt.

You could imagine his shock when, shortly after he finished securing his case Melody suddenly picked him up with her teeth, being careful to only latch on to the back of his coat.

Newt was quick to grab one of the spikes along her spine and conjured some rope to tie his case to the one in front of him. Once he had a good grip, he felt Melody's muscles tense, before she took off with increasingly longer strides along the ground.

As she picked up speed (which was faster than any broom he had ever flown) she began to grow in size, before her forelimbs began to beat in a thunderous manner.

Newt watched in amazement as Melody took flight, using her forward momentum to catch wind under her wings and to ease the strain of getting off the ground.

Seeing the world below dwindle until it was like looking at tiny models on the ground was _breathtaking_. It took him a moment to fully register he was flying on a _dragon_ and not in a terror-filled manner of someone who had the misfortune to be caught on a dragon while it took off or someone in the process of being eaten and was being carried off while their limb was stuck in the dragon's mouth. It was almost like flying his mother's Hippogryffs, but far more scaly and much, much higher up.

And then he discovered the hard way that Melody had a mischievous streak.

He yelped in fear and surprise when she suddenly took a steep dive, before performing what could only be a text-book perfect Wronski Feint.

He would know... Charlus Potter had mastered that particular Quidditch move shortly before his fifth year and Newt had seen him perform it more than once before he was expelled.

He would swear she was laughing at him. There was a strange chortling sound and he could feel her diaphram moving in a way that indicated sound.

As the sun started to barely peek over the horizon, Newt realized with some disappointment that the fun would have to end. On an unrelated note he was actually quite warm despite the chill in the air and the late hour. Mostly because Melody demonstrated her firepower and radiated enough heat that he could have kept nice and toasty in the middle of Hogwarts during a blizzard and not require extra layers or even a pair of socks to stay warm.

Something he and no doubt countless other students would have wanted during their schooling, as the castle was _very_ drafty and bitterly cold during the winter. The magic in the castle kept it from freezing over entirely and at a barely manageable level for the students, but it didn't make it any less cold.

Newt had thoroughly enjoyed himself and he could see Melody's appetite had definitely perked up. Watching her do a fly over of a herd of gazelle before striking down three of them and eating them was fascinating. She was a very neat eater, and the meat she didn't devour he quietly acquired for the other carnivores in the case. And for himself later, once he butchered it up.

He suspected Melody had struck down the fourth one purely for his benefit, which was surprisingly generous of her.

Seeing her shrink, he opened his case and let her back in...before quickly flying out of the area. He could _hear_ humans and she had hardly been discreet. He didn't want anyone to equate _him_ with having a pet dragon.

His older brother would never let him hear the end of it, and he was barely skirting on the legality of what he had in his case already. Owning a dragon was a definite "no-no" across every country he would care to visit.

Unsurprisingly, Newt dreamed of flying on dragonback, doing insane stunts and hunting. He went to bed that afternoon with a smile on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

If anyone had told Newt when he was expelled from Hogwarts that he would one day have a dragon in his case that permitted him to ride it while it was flying and was generally very tame so long as wands were not involved, he would have dropped all his manners to laugh at you silly.

As it was, Newt almost wished he could bring Melody home with him to prank his family with, especially his brother Theseus who was quite strict. The expressions on their faces seeing him flying on a dragon would be quite hilarious to watch, he was certain of it.

Unfortunately Melody's aversion to wizards made that impossible. He had no doubt the Ministry would attempt to force her into a reserve and breed her in the hopes of 'docile' dragons, and considering she was very agitated around wands and magic use in general, that could only end badly.

A simple prank was not worth losing her, or making her suffer through something that would only cause pain.

After she took him flying, Newt found Melody far more relaxed around him. She would permit him to climb onto her forelimb and to use her as a backrest while he worked on his book and wrote down his observations. Sometimes he would even take a little nap, even if the angle he woke up in was sometimes very awkward indeed.

Melody's mood always improved after a flying session. Any fears he had of her flying off disappeared after the first time she took off without him while he cooked his dinner outside the case. After a few hours, she returned vibrating with happiness and being very pushy indeed.

He still had no idea who took care of his creatures whenever he crashed for several hours. All he knew was that occasionally he would wake up and find all his self-appointed chores when it came to feeding, cleaning and general maintenance of his creatures already taken care of. Which left him with time to relax and finish his book a little faster, while resting against Melody.

It was...nice.

Newt splashed his face. He had been having dreams lately that he simply couldn't explain. He didn't really put much stock in Divination... he highly doubted he had the knack for it.

However he couldn't find a feasible explanation for what was going on.

The thing was that he kept getting caught every time he saw hauntingly familiar green eyes, except human-shaped. He couldn't remember the face, and he could only make out a few details, but the eyes stayed with him.

The eyes belonged to a woman with shoulder-length hair that was almost black in darker settings, but when she was under the sun revealed to be a deep red instead. Her skin was pale, and she wore familiar robes (except with Gryffindor trim) and was the proper sort of brave. She held a quiet strength that was forged through adversity and trials that would leave lesser witches and wizards broken. But she did not broadcast her accomplishments...he could tell from the way she acted all she wanted was someone to love and care for her the way a woman should be, not treated as a prized bird one brought out in a gilded cage.

Most of the details about her escaped him, such as the faces and events, but the eyes...the eyes haunted him in his waking hours.

It wasn't until he happened to catch Melody's gaze when after a flight when the sun hit her scales _just_ right that he realized why the eyes bothered him so much.

After Newt let Melody back into the case, he sat down and thought hard about what he knew of the dragoness.

She was far too tame compared to _normal_ dragons. She understood English enough to follow polite requests and was far too calm around him even when she was in pain and needed simple medical aid. She displayed a degree of intelligence that was astounding in a creature, and a sense of mischief that he could find humor in once he had gotten over the shock. Her face was expressive, and the number of times he had woken up or come into the case only to find his creatures already taken care of.

There was only one conclusion he could come up with.

Melody wasn't a dragon at all. She was a dragon _animagus_.

Newt couldn't believe it never occurred to him sooner. It explained everything, like who had taken care of his creatures for him, and why the dragoness was so calm around him so long as he never brought out his wand.

He wanted desperately to ask, to find out _what_ had happened to Melody that she would retreat into her dragon form to hide away from the magical enclaves. What could drive a witch into staying in their creature for for _months_ on end without trying to initiate human contact?

However long experience with injured and abused creatures stayed his hand. Whatever had driven Melody to fly away all the way to Africa in her dragon form and _stay_ in dragon form was obviously traumatic. The fact she trusted him enough to let him close was a miracle, in his opinion.

When he walked into his case later that day to feed his creatures, his eyes met her own.

Melody paused and seemed to shrink in herself. She knew that he had figured it out.

Newt sighed, and finished what he was doing first.

He calmly, but with telegraphed movements, walked towards Melody. He gently put his hand on her long nose, and felt his heart break when he realized she was close to crying because she was afraid he would throw her out. That he would abandon her.

"I will not force you to leave. I also won't demand that you turn back to your true form. When you're ready to talk... I will be here to listen," said Newt gently, leaning his head against her snout.

Melody's eyes widened slightly, before she let out a sort of whine, and bumped her head towards his. Her eyes closed in pleasure when Newt slowly began to stroke her scales, especially down her spine.

He found himself with his lap occupied by Melody's head as she was disinclined to let him get up. He smiled slightly, and decided to clean out the spikes on the back of her head as he rarely had a chance to do so.

He could see from the slight furrows on the ground that she definitely enjoyed it...much like a large cat would 'paw' at their owner when they were happy and were being stroked in just the right manner while purring.

Except Melody was a massive dragon and the furrows she was leaving in the ground would have left a very dead wizard if they had been anywhere near him. If she could have, she would have purred, he was certain of it.

_Later that night..._

Newt found an odd weight on his chest, and upon using a little bit of magic to produce light, was very startled to find a smaller version of Melody sleeping on him like a cat.

A cat the size of a lynx, but still a cat. She was snoozing contently on top of the covers without a second thought.

Newt had to blink and wonder if he had eaten something strange, because he had never seen a dragon that _tiny_ before. At least not one he knew was fully grown. Baby dragons were roughly that size, after all.

It didn't change the fact that Melody was still quite heavy and he would have trouble breathing if she remained where she was.

Cautiously, so as not to wake her, Newt picked her up and carefully placed her against his side, still on top of the covers. She stretched out slightly, her nose nudging his arm while her tail was against his leg...as a result she had grown slightly and was about the same size as a medium sized dog.

Newt quietly expanded the bed, which gave him a bit more room to move. He took it as a good sign that she slept through the discreet magic use, as she had always seemed nervous whenever any active magic was around her.

Considering the situation, he curled against Melody and found himself with one arm wrapped around her middle, breathing in the unique mixture of smoke, cinnamon, and the scent that he had come to associate with Melody in particular. Waking up with her head against his chest and her tail wrapped around the lone leg that was exposed from the covers was a rather...interesting... predicament.

Newt had to wonder if this was going to become a regular thing, because if that was the case he was going to forgo sleeping under his blanket. It was uncomfortably warm with the addition of a shrunken dragon in his bed. Not that he was complaining. He would happily cuddle with any one of his creatures if he could get away with it.

* * *

Coming into the case that day to care for his creatures, Newt was entirely unprepared for the sight that greeted him.

Inside the case, he saw Melody _levitating_ food for the animals with a flick of her tail, directing them to where they needed to go while perched on a rather high rock to observe the surroundings. It was all very neat and orderly, and took far less time than it would have for him because she was levitating several things at once and directly them with admirable efficiency.

When she spotted him, she had a sheepish expression on her face. However it didn't stop her from refilling the water and levitating it next.

"How are you doing that? I thought it was impossible to cast magic while in your animal form!" he asked astonished.

Melody blinked at the question, before a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes. With a flick of her tail, words made of fire spelled out in the air.

Newt was amazed.

_I just can? It's not that hard really, you just have to be really, really in tune with your magic. I mean the only thing different is the _form_, not the magic within._

"What do you mean the only thing different is the form?" he asked, openly interested.

_Think about this for a moment. When you turn into a creature or an animal via magic, does the mind within change, or is it just the physical body that shifts into a new form? There's no reason why your magic should be inaccessible while in your animal form, so long as the mind within is the same. After all, all you're really doing is coating your body with the physical characteristics of an animal that suits your true self._

Newt was fascinated.

"Is that how you're able to change your size?"

_It's a matter of perspective, really. For example..._

To Newt's surprise, she went from a massive beast that dwarfed over all the creatures in his case...to the size of a large cat that easily wrapped itself around his neck with a smug expression.

He found it fascinating that she barely weighed any more than an owl, despite weighing several hundred tons when full sized.

As if the day couldn't get any stranger, Newt heard her voice past his mental defenses. Which was a little less awkward than reading it in the air from her position. It would be very distracting after all.

_This is much more comfortable than that rock._

Newt blinked, but went to check on his creatures, for his own piece of mind. Much to his amusement, Melody stayed around his neck like an odd scarf.

He quickly grew used to the weight and the decidedly female voice in his head. He didn't mind it, as he could tell she wasn't inclined to go through his memories and was mostly using it as a way to communicate more effectively.

It was almost like owning a very scaly owl, to be honest. Except this one could talk back and could hold some very intelligent and well reasoned arguments about magic that had him actually stop and think _why_ things had to be a certain way.

The best part was that she had a very reasonable policy regarding magical creatures he approved of. Even if she mentioned that her policy also extended to werewolves, since she once had an uncle who had been bitten quite young but was a perfectly nice man outside of the full moons that she was quite fond of.

So long as it wasn't trying to maim, eat or otherwise kill her, she was willing to treat it the same as any wizard, just in a slightly different form.

Newt found it quite relaxing to have Melody around his neck, mostly because she had a rather odd habit of 'humming'. He didn't know what she was humming to as she didn't say the lyrics in his mind, but it was still quite pleasant.

However he did encounter a slight...issue...when he took her out of the case and went through populated areas. Everyone wanted to know where the 'unique' breed of lizard could be found...mostly because they wanted one as a pet.

Melody was taking far too much amusement at his predicament.

_Just tell them I'm a fire lizard, and that you found me in a rather isolated area that you couldn't locate afterwards once you rescued me from a particularly large reptile that tried to make me a snack,_ she suggested with far too much amusement.

Newt was still baffled as to how she knew exactly what to tell the muggles in order for them to accept her as an unusual breed of lizard around his neck.

_Honestly Newt, do you really think it's _that_ unusual for muggles to have reptiles as pets? I know for a fact that it's common for some people to own snakes, both constrictors and the venomous kinds that could kill them if bitten. Besides, being a parselmouth is only considered evil in the UK. In India, China and Australia they're honored because they can talk the deadly serpents down from biting someone and are able to safely milk them for their venom,_ said Melody with a laugh.

Seeing the fascination in Newt's eyes, Melody began to complain about how unfair it was that England and a good chunk of Europe were so against parselmouths and snakes in general all because of a few bad apples and the perception that Salazar Slytherin _hated_ those of mundane origin in the first place.

If that were true, then why did he agree to start a school to _educate_ them in the proper way of things and assist in HIDING said children from their families during the religious uproar? Children who later became peers of the English enclaves who 'conviently' forgot their origins and the fact they were once mudbloods themselves.

Considering Melody could cheerfully track back how far the 'magical' lineage of her own family went, right down to when they stopped being muggleborns and half-bloods and started qualifying for 'pure bloods' as according to ministry standards, Newt had to admit he was highly impressed.

Even he, a _pure blood,_ couldn't name _when_ his family became "pure bloods" and gained their relatively minor titles.

It was strangely humbling.

Though Newt had to admit, he found her 'reasoning' to explain her presence away to the magicals he came across relatively amusing.

All he had to do was state the truth. That she was a lazy animagus who didn't feel like changing back and that she looked like a relatively boring breed of lizard to the 'muggles'. Anyone who cast the spell on her would come up with that result, which meant she didn't have to change back at all and still got to enjoy the outside of the case without worry.

So long as she didn't start breathing fire or grow to her proper proportions, no one could complain in the least.

Newt was thoroughly enjoy their talks about anything and everything they could, from magical theory to interesting creatures he had never seen, but had heard of.

It was nice to have a conversation with another human and not get looked down upon for his 'soft' approach to magical creatures.


	3. Chapter 3

Waking up to a beautiful woman in his arms would have been one of the better experiences in his life...if he knew who she was.

Newt felt his yelp of surprise could be excused on the grounds that there certainly wasn't a female in his bed the night before when he went to sleep.

The woman yawned, and rubbed her eyes tiredly.

Newt's eyes were met with familiar green, except they were far less dragonish.

"Melody?" he inquired, hoping he was right.

Newt? She replied, confused. What in the name of Loki has you this riled up so early in the morning?

Newt wordlessly conjured a mirror...and held it up in front of her.

Melody blinked, before her eyes widened in shock. She squeaked, before promptly shifting back into a dragon. A small dragon, but still a dragon.

"What happened?"

I must have been so relaxed that I let the transformation drop. This is the first time I've been able to sleep that deeply to the point I didn't have nightmares.

Newt gently put his hand on her head.

"Melody...it's okay if you feel safe enough to switch back to your original form. I was just startled," said Newt gently.

I hate my real form. People were always so eager to shove their expectations on me without regard to what I wanted. It was like I was a bird in a gilded cage to be shown off.

She hated it so much that she had fallen back on her old method of avoiding others.

She dove into a library for days at a time and studied anything and everything she got her hands on, rarely venturing out save for basic essentials like food and cleaning after herself.

She had been like a sponge that had been dried out that was suddenly dumped into an ocean. Not even Hermione could force her to do a damn thing since she was 'finishing her education'. And by the time people figured out she had no intention of becoming an auror or marrying anyone within the next few decades to start popping out her heirs, nearly everyone reacted badly.

Being in her dragon form was relaxing...no one could make a dragon do anything.

Melody nudged her head under Newt's hand when it looked like he was going to remove it. Instead he picked her up and put her in his lap like a scaly cat.

"I don't know what happened that left you so traumatized. Or why the people around you seemed to think they only way for you to recover was to force you into a role they wanted you in... Merlin knows I used to have nightmares of being stuck in a desk job at the Ministry for disposing magical creatures, rather than study them!" said Newt, trying to joke. It helped somewhat, he could tell. "The point is that if you feel comfortable staying in dragon form for the moment, then by all means, you can stay that way for as long as you need. If you want to wander around the case in human form, then I won't mind... you care about creatures just as much as I do and I know you won't hurt them. Just please... keep your clothes on?"

Melody made an inquiring noise.

"I don't think my heart could take the shock of a woman wandering around naked in my case. My mother and older brother would never let me hear the end of it, especially since we're not married," admitted Newt.

That make Melody giggle, which made Newt happy since she wasn't so scared anymore.

"Do you feel up to trying to go back to sleep?" asked Newt.

Melody was already halfway there. It was ridiculously relaxing being around Newt.

He chuckled and positioned her so that they were back in the same position as before...just with her in dragon form.

He felt rather relieved when he started catching glimpsed of a red haired young woman about his age wandering around the case, mingling freely with the animals and helping to clean up the place. Sure, she always turned into her smaller dragon form the moment she realized he was around, but it was a start.

Newt stared at Melody.

"You want to what?"

Rearrange the enviroments around the case. Your idea was good, but the execution of it was highly flawed because you lacked basic information available to muggles, said Melody.

"Why?"

She pointed at the desert area (where she usually napped) and then at the winter tundra.

Would you put those two together and not expect the charms to fall apart after a prolonged period of time?

"Of course not."

Imagine the environments you created are like a puzzle. Right now they're a hodge-podge of small areas that strain the case and your own ability to maintain it. What I want to do is put the puzzle together so that the environments coexist as a single unit even when certain areas are enlarged to handle more creatures. Sort of like a small island with an ecosystem filled with checks and balances.

Seeing he didn't get it, Melody created an 'island' of sorts, where all the environments Newt had created were put together in a way he would have likely seen while traveling. Seeing his eyes widened as he got what she wanted to do, Newt looked at her speculatively.

"Will this hurt the creatures?"

I think it's more likely to put any new additions at ease, because it will recreate what they're already familiar with any allow them to transition to a new location a little more smoothly. You forget, they are already used to the idea of 'predator' and 'prey', and all you're really doing is keeping them from feeling the need to hunt. It should also ease their removal for later when they're ready to return to their natural habitats.

That eased any worries Newt had at the idea.

We might have to temporarily knock them out until the magic settles though. Just the ones who don't have a secondary environment we can put them in, said Melody. Though it's going to take a while to set things so that it's self-supporting.

"I can help with that... if you could show me how to put things together I can move them accordingly," said Newt eagerly. "Though we'll definitely have to put a few of the older residents into stasis... the transition might upset them."

The idea of a self-sustaining ecosystem for his creatures definitely appealed to him. Especially since it would ease the strain of adding new areas for future creatures, though he had the feeling he would be adding a few new areas just to keep things stable.

This was going take a bit of work and planning. However it was the sort of work he knew he would enjoy and be proud to say he had been a part of.

You know if we pull this off, you could possibly send in a study paper to the ICW and get internationally recognized as a charms master. It would make people take you a little more seriously and help to get recognition for your book later, she pointed out.

Newt perked up at that. He had never considered his little areas that impressive.

And she was right...people would take a recognized charm master a bit more seriously, especially if the charms in question were used to help understand magical creatures in their natural habitats.

If it helps, I made a charm that does spell check for when I don't have the time to do it myself and I have excellent grammar. I can doublecheck your work for errors to make it look better, offered Melody.

"What's spell check?" asked Newt.

Basically it checks to make sure the word in question is spelled correctly. Coincidentally did you know mundanes found that even if a word has the letters in the wrong order, so long as the first and last letter is where it's supposed to be, that most people can still make an educated guess what it's supposed to be? Well, if they can read anyway... said Melody.

"Really?" said Newt fascinated.

If and when I feel up to switching back to my human form, I'll show you the library I keep in the special pocket dimension I created. I have tons of books I know would catch your interest, such as anatomy books for normal animals like horses and large cats. And before you say anything, what difference is there between a normal horse and a unicorn besides the horn and the fact that a unicorn is magical?

Newt...honestly had no answer to that.

"Wait... muggles cut up animals?"

Or they find one that died of natural causes, and cut it apart to determine why that animal died and how to prevent it for future patients. It's the same idea behind donating your body for science, to teach muggle doctors how the body works and why certain organs are necessary. It might seem barbaric to you, but can you honestly say a healer knows what the liver is for beyond simply regrowing it or fixing it via magic?

Newt shook his head.

Muggles have found a way to find the answers to 'why' things are the way they are via trial and error, and have kept making strides towards increasing that knowledge for future generation to fall back on. As a result they can do amazing things without magic ever being part of the process. And the Ministry and the pure bloods behind it still believe things are like they were during the Victorian Era, said Melody in disgust.

"I feel like I should be offended by that, but I have seen things that have made me question the general 'knowledge' we have about muggles," admitted Newt. "And I will be the first to admit that the Ministry is lacking when it comes to research. They push around the older findings and declare it new. It's why I'm writing my book...so people will see these creatures for the amazing things they are, rather than just a source of potion ingredients."

Melody practically purred in his arms hearing that.

So, about making a functional ecosystem...

"We need to plan things out properly, before we do anything. I have the feeling this is going to take some time before we can have it up and running, but the end result would be more than worth it," said Newt.

He could tell Melody was excited to try it, just to see what the end result would look like.

If we do this right, then we can do away with at least two of your little greenhouses and have the plants grow naturally... even if we would still have to suppliment their diet with what you already give them so they don't eat all of it!

Newt could already feel excited about that. He wasn't much of a gardener and it was rather difficult to care for both the creatures and the necessary plants to keep the herbivores fed. Being able to let them grow naturally and simply harvest them so they didn't go to waste would ease a lot of the burden.

This was going to be a monumental undertaking, and he honestly couldn't wait.

It was hard to place when it happened, but Newt wasn't going to draw attention to it.

All he knew was that in between the planning session to make the case into a self-sustaining collection of habitats where his creatures could roam freely in their natural environments and insuring the plants could be transplanted without actually killing them, Melody slowly started walking around in her human form and not in her dragon form.

Newt actually knew what her real voice sounded like now, and what she looked like.

He didn't know what could have caused such a lovely, intelligent young woman to withdraw from the world as thoroughly as she had, but he was very glad she trusted him enough to show her real self.

Melody was vibrant, mischievous, intelligent and an avid lover of creatures and trying new things.

She was also quite beautiful to the point that Newt had to take a few moments to focus on the task at hand and remember what they were trying to do on several occasions.

Pale skin, deep red hair that looked almost black in dark lighting, rich emerald green eyes, and features that made him wonder if she was related to Charlus Potter...or possibly Dorea Black. She reminded him of both for some odd reason. Charlus with her looks and Dorea with her behavior.

And the less said about her clothing preferences, the better! Newt would swear he was blushing red as a tomato when he saw her wearing what appeared to be men's trousers and a shirt that left very little to the imagination as it clung to her curves. Fortunately it covered everything it should, but it was still a bit more provocative than he was used to.

Not that he was much better when she wore a simple sundress and a bandanna to hold her hair back while she was replanting most of his greenhouses into their new home, but still!

When Newt wasn't preparing to rearrange his case to work better, he was quietly altering his small shack. He wanted it to be a surprise for Melody.

He wanted to give her a place she could call 'home' and feel safe without having to revert to her dragon form. To that end he created additional rooms and hid them with a little discreet magic, so she wouldn't stumble across it. As far as Melody knew, his shack was still the same as it always was...though he did add a bathroom when Melody pointedly asked why he was complaining about how long it had been since he had a proper bath.


	4. Chapter 4

Newt was panting as he put the last habitat into place. It had taken a little bit of coaxing and several days of careful planning once the creatures were put into stasis temporarily, but they were almost done.

He could _feel_ the magic kicking in as the enlarged habitats began to slowly adjust to compensate for the new territory.

As Melody had pointed out, his original set up was like a box of puzzle pieces that had been laid out in a hodge-podge manner and were only putting a great strain on his magic and on the spacial charms in the case.

Now though... there was a noticable difference, and when they released the creatures from their stasis, he watched as they all migrated to areas that suited their needs without him having to do a thing. It was very clear that they were quite happy with the new arrangement. The Nundu, for example was far less tense and was happy sunning himself on a nice rock.

The amphibious creatures were happily swimming in their redesigned water areas... Newt had to admit, he never would have thought of an _ocean_ that could go over the edge and recollect to be reused again.

Melody had called it a 'fun water-feature'. The fact that it was literally deep enough to go swimming in and dive down to see actual corals was simply breathtaking.

He would be more amazed if the ICW didn't give him a mastery for this amount of work.

However the highlight of all the hard work they had put into it was the expression on Melody's face when he revealed the newly refurbished 'shack', which was now the size of a proper house.

"What is this?" she asked.

"I took my shack and turned it into a proper home. I don't know why it never occurred to me to do it sooner. It has several bedrooms, two full baths, a sauna, and several empty rooms to redecorate as the need arises. As well as a proper potions lab which has easy access to the remaining greenhouse. I also included a door that would allow us to enter any of the habitats within moments, rather than having to traipse across the ecosystem to feed the animals," said Newt proudly. "Though I had to install markers for the door to latch onto."

Melody looked at the house with an odd expression in her eyes.

"I know you've been hurt before, and that you're not fully ready to deal with magicals. At least not large groups of them. However you should have a place where you can relax and be yourself without having to revert to your dragon form," said Newt.

He didn't try to approach her. This was a key point in helping her to recover, and only she could make that first step. It wouldn't help much if he forced her to make it.

Seeing her walk into the house was one of the most rewarding moments in his life.

And for a moment he thought he would end up sleeping alone, as he had gotten very used to cuddling with a dragon. However Melody flopped down on the newly transfigured bed and curled right up next to him with a happy sigh.

It wouldn't be until he was passing by one of the bathrooms that he discovered she had already taken initiatively and turned one of the empty rooms with one of the larger windows into a fully stocked library. There were bookshelves and even helpful plaques that told anyone who entered what each shelf contained...and as he watched, the plaques changed languages reading the same thing. Further investigation revealed a 'book' that would allow one to retrieve anything the user wanted to read by subject or just general content.

Newt idly wished he had _this_ sort of set-up back when he was a student...it would have made studying much easier.

* * *

Melody was sticking _very_ close to Newt as they wandered towards the port. This was the first time since he found her that she had opted to walk around in her true form, rather than as a small dragon around his neck.

It was somewhat pleasant, being able to walk with a very attractive young woman on his arm. The looks he kept getting were quite amusing, not that he particularly cared for them.

As they wandered through town (the ship wouldn't be leaving until tomorrow morning) Newt noticed the way Melody looked at certain pieces of clothing.

Considering she had mostly been wearing transfigured outfits, and hadn't really packed any clothes in the odd pocket space she had created (it was a surprisingly easy thing to make and access), Newt decided to pick up a few things for her on the sly. Meanwhile Melody was off to pick up some food for the travel, since it meant she wouldn't have to do any hunting later.

Newt happily surrendered all cooking to her, as his own attempts were sub-par at best and inedible at the worst. He could brew a potion just fine, but actually cooking something was beyond his skills. Melody, however, was an artist.

Newt had just finished purchasing the outfits he thought would suit Melody, or had caught her interest while they had passed by the stalls when he heard a commotion happening.

"What's going on?" he asked.

An American sailor had an amused expression on his face.

"A pretty dame is beating up some hooligans who tried to get fresh with her, from what I'm hearing," he replied.

Newt had a sinking feeling in his stomach, and started making his way towards the center of the fight. He could hear at least three men swearing, and the sound of flesh hitting flesh.

Fearing the worst, Newt managed to push through to see what was going on.

He was worried Melody had gotten into a fight and was being attacked by brutes.

His worries proved to be misplaced. He clearly should have been more concerned for the _men_.

Melody looked pissed, and there was a distinct fire in her eyes that said volumes of how angry she was. Considering the bruise on her left arm, he could make an educated guess what happened.

He would have to get the full story from her later, but right now he was more concerned about whether or not this would set her back in her recovery. He had only _just_ gotten her to agree to wander around in human form in a crowded port.

Before Newt could push his way to Melody's side, she did a sweeping kick before punching one of the brutes so hard that he crashed into the two others.

Considering the muggle aurors had arrived, Melody settled for glaring rather than follow up.

"What's going on here?"

"Beggin' yer parden officer..." said the stall owner. "But the young miss here was buyin' food when these three decided to take a fancy to her. She made it clear she wasn't interested when that man over there tried to grab her...and she defended herself with more skill than I've ever seen in a dame."

"Is this true?" demanded the officer.

Several other stall owners were quick to agree...mostly because Melody had been a very polite customer who bought quite a bit of food and supplies using actual gold coins, whereas the men were just local hooligans that had caused no end of trouble.

The fact they got their ass handed to them by a _woman_, who looked like she could barely lift even one of them, was a sight they enjoyed greatly.

Newt was quick to make his way towards Melody.

"Are you alright?" he asked with concern.

"I really hate it when people decide they have a right to grab me like that," she scowled. "It's called 'personal space' for a bloody reason."

Her scowl deepened when she realized her dress now had bloodstains on it from where she hit the hooligans so hard that their few remaining teeth had been knocked out and splattered on her.

"If you be needing a place to change in private there's a closet with a curtain nearby," said the woman who had spoken up for her earlier.

"Thank you. Bloodstains are a pain to get out, even if they are well deserved," Melody replied with relief.

Newt had a sudden thought, and promptly pulled out something he had bought earlier.

"Here," he replied, handing her one of the packages. He planned to put the rest in his case once he had a moment to do so.

Seeing the confusion on her face, she accepted it and went to change out of her dress.

Magic would see it cleaned, but she couldn't very well use it in front of so many mundanes, as she called them.

The expression on her face when she exited was something that amused Newt greatly.

"I hope I got your size correct," he admitted sheepishly.

Melody blushed rather prettily, a stark contrast to the fury she had on her face from earlier.

Considering they still had time before they hit the boat, Newt held out his arm in a gentlemanly manner. He wanted to try out the local foods and he felt she needed a reason to forget the unpleasantness of earlier.

He had to admit, the new dress was not only colorful, but suited her well. It brought out the green in her eyes.

It only occurred to him later that this would qualify as their first official date.

Melody was on the deck of the ship, wearing one of the dresses Newt had bought for her, along with a shawl.

"Where are we heading next?" she asked.

"China, mostly so I can get away from the African continent for a while. That plus I heard a rumor about the Chinese dragon sanctuaries operating differently from the European ones I've been to."

"They would, the dragon is considered a symbol for the Emperor, just as the Asian varient of the phoenix is the symbol for the Empress," she replied. "Asian view dragons as sacred, from the Chinese, the Japanese... even the Koreans have more legends about 'good' dragons than the English do!"

Newt looked fascinated. He was also more than a little relieved Melody had come out of her shell.

Melody noticed the look he was giving her, and smiled. It made his heart skip a beat a little.

He had never really felt this way around Leta Lestrange, which perhaps should have been a clue.

"Relax Newt... I'm not going to return to my skittish behavior. At least not without something major happening."

"What caused that?" asked Newt.

Melody had a sour expression on her face.

"Imagine that _every_ time you stepped foot outside your warded house, which you never told _anyone_ the address or how to find it, and stepped among others that everyone and their grandmother tried to shove their expectations of how to live your life on you. As if your own opinion never matters and never would. Then imagine your best friends and the closest thing you have left of family trying to pressure you into a direction you most certainly don't care for and being less than subtle about you 'settling down', as if that was the only therapy you needed to deal with large amounts of trauma. Like having children when you are still trying to learn how to cope on your own terms is the 'best' solution," said Melody.

Newt grimaced. It sounded like quite the headache. Sure, his family had all but dragged him into interacting with them to deal with memories from the war, but from the sound of things Melody's had attempted to shove her into a box without regard for her feelings or aspirations.

If that happened _every_ time, it was no wonder she became somewhat skittish and refused to go near anyone with wands. Anyone with the animal form of a massive dragon would be less than content with a desk job and a sedentary life.

Melody was made for adventure and seeing new things, not being stuck as a house wife, or being bound by ridiculous rules.

"Besides...there's no way they'll be able to track me now!" said Melody with glee. She paused. "Well, except maybe Luna. She might be able to do it. But I highly doubt she would bring anyone else with her."

Luna was an odd platypus like that, and if anyone could track her down it would be her. Not that Melody minded. Luna had been the one to suggest she do something 'drastic' to keep the Wrackspurts far away from her, considering they practically infested nearly everyone else to the point they couldn't see the damage they were doing.

Not that anyone paid attention to the fact Melody was being crushed by their expectactions. Only Luna had bothered to step back and notice, and she was the only person who had been very supported of her.

"Luna?" repeated Newt.

"Luna Lovegood. A bit odd and she has a bit of the Sight in her, but a good and loyal friend. You would like her...she loves creatures and is the sort of person who would befriend a thestral herd simply because she could and she found them cute," said Melody with amusement.

Newt brightened at that. Thestrals were really given a poor reputation because of the requirements needed to see them. They were rather friendly creatures who he found rather charming once he realized what he was looking at. Quite useful too, if you could tame one.

"Have you ever read the _Quibbler_?" asked Melody hopefully.

"I've heard of it, but I've never read it," said Newt. "Theseus really didn't have much to say of it other than it's filled with muggle conspiracy theories."

"Theseus?"

"My older brother," said Newt. "What of you? Do you have an older siblings?"

Melody winced.

"There's no way I'm going into my recent family history without a pensieve and a _lot _of alcohol involved, with the agreement not to be bothered for a few days."

Newt didn't particularly like the implications of that.

"Were they blood purists?" he asked delicately. He was vaguely aware of the rising movement of pure bloods who seemed to believe that _only_ pure bloods deserved rights and that half-bloods were barely acceptable so long as they were magically raised from an older established line.

Melody snorted derisively.

"My father was a pure blood who married a muggleborn. They were murdered by a blood purist before I was two, and I was sent to live with my less than pleased muggle aunt who wanted nothing to do with magic in the least and was very jealous of her younger sister," said Melody bluntly, without a hint of shame. "So if you're asking me if I believe in that crock that blood matters, you're wasting my time."

Newt winced at that. He had the feeling he would be better off switching the subject to something less painful.

"What was your favorite subject?"

"Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid might not have been the _best_ choice for a teacher, but there was no doubting he genuinely loved any he came across...even if his first lesson was on Hippogryffs of all things," admitted Melody with amusement. "Then again, as a half-giant he had far less to fear from the 'misunderstood beasties' than his students did. He thought it was appropriate to raise an Acromantula next to a school of all things."

Newt titled his head.

"What's an Acromantula?" he asked.

"Take the biggest spider you can think of, then engorge it to roughly the same size as a half-grown Cerberus with enough intelligence that it can speak the human tongue," said Melody dryly.

Newt stared at her.

"And your professor thought it was appropriate to _raise_ one near a school?"

"In all fairness, he was still a student at the time. Even if he did get expelled for it, though not for the reasons you would think," said Melody.

"I'm almost afraid to ask."

"He was caught by another student with it, and since there had been a series of attacks on the rest they immediately assumed it was Hagrid's pet that caused the trouble...despite the fact there were absolutely no bite marks on the only victim to die from the creature and the fact it later turned out to be a basilisk that some idiot set loose because he was a purist who wanted to rid the school of muggleborns," said Melody in disgust. "They expelled him purely because they wanted the whole thing to go away without any proper investigation on whether the spider in question was really the culprit. Of course it later turned out that the student who _caught_ Hagrid with the spider was in fact the one responsible for the attacks in the first place."

Newt blinked.

"Where was this?"

Because this sort of thing sounded _exactly_ like the bad press he wanted to change when it came to his creatures.

Melody smiled at him.

"You mean you honestly haven't figured it out, despite the fact you've been borrowing books from my library?" she asked, laughing.

Newt was confused by that.

"What do you mean?"

"Next time you pick up one of the muggle books on science, look a little closer to where the publishing date is," she replied.

"Publishing date?" repeated Newt.

"Muggles print the year to indicate when the book was published and released on the front pages, often with a description of what the book is roughly about in the case of the fiction novels," she replied.

Newt pulled out one of the books he had borrowed from Melody's personal library, which was a fiction novel called "_Acorna the Unicorn Girl"_.

He ignored where his bookmark was to look closer at the front pages. There, in tiny print was the publishing page...where it said "copyrighted in 1997".

Newt had to re-read the print three times before his eyes believed it.

"Nineteen ninety-seven?" he repeated in shock.

Melody leaned against the railing with eyes glinting in amusement.

"I assume you are aware of what a 'time-turner' is, yes?" she asked.

Newt nodded.

"I was attempting to use mine to avoid a confrontation with someone who took poorly to the fact I put an end to a hypocritical fool that claimed to be a blood purist but just wanted to burn everything to the ground regardless of the cost. My time turner was hit with a spell I don't particularly care to know the origin of, and for some reason it caused the hourglass to break mid-turn and spill time sand all over me. Next thing I know I wake up in Africa with absolutely no idea where I am, and since I didn't feel like dealing with any of the Ministries I turned into Maleficent. I was only there for four days before you showed up," she replied.

"Maleficent?" said Newt amused.

"My father had a little gang he called the 'Marauders', and almost all of them had illegal animagi forms. So they created nicknames for their animal sides as code, and it became tradition. Considering mine, one of my friends thought it amusing to name me Maleficent after the sorceress that turned into a dragon and put a princess to sleep via a cursed spindle."

Newt actually knew that story, though not the details.

Though now he had more questions than answers.


	5. Chapter 5

The revelation Melody from from a future timeline had been a bit of a shock, but it explained much. Like why her personal library had such detailed books on 'anatomy' when it came to animals and the large amount of fiction. Newt had never been much of an avid reader, preferring to be out in the field, but after being introduced to the works of Tolkien, McCaffery, Mercedes Lackey and several others, well he would find time out of his day to simply sit down and read.

Considering Melody was able to halve the work needed to care for his creatures and didn't mind gardening, he actually had the time to do it and work on his book.

Though one of the first spells he mastered was the "spell check and grammar" charm that Melody had created. Mostly to cut down the time required to proofread her work for her mundane education.

It certainly made it easier to adjust his book to look a little more professional.

One thing Newt appreciated was the fact that Melody seemed far more open and relaxed since they left Africa. She wasn't particularly fond of boat travel...likely because she was a creature of fire and air, and they were traveling like muggles which meant she couldn't fly off like she normally did without causing great alarm.

Newt was _very_ appreciative of Melody's culinary skills... the food provided by the cook on board was far less appetizing, and had a prevalence of fish. Though some of the dishes Melody prepared would have had him look askance at it, had he not been used to preparing potions.

When Melody cooked an animal, she preferred to use the _whole_ animal, not just the meat. Whereas Newt was perfectly happy leaving _those_ parts to the carnivores in his case.

_Three days into the journey..._

"Newt, come on. I have a desperate need to fly for a bit and I want to show you something," said Melody.

Newt sighed, and grabbed the camera that Melody had shown him how to use. It certainly made it easier to draw the creatures in his book if he had a reference, and he didn't know why he never thought of investing in one before now.

"What are we going to see?"

"Have you ever seen a shark up close?"

"What's a shark?"

Melody's impish smirk did not inspire confidence. Newt could only take solace in the fact that she could eat any creature she planned to show him with ease.

Very little could match a large firebreathing dragon.

As they flew a decent distance from the ship, Melody took out one of his buckets and began throwing bits and pieces of meat that were quite bloody into the water. Under the moonlight, Newt watched patiently for whatever she wanted him to see.

After about fifteen minutes, Melody grinned and cast a full bubble charm around them both and took them under the water. Thanks to the bioluminscence of the charm (Newt had a particular fondness for books about animals) he was able to see a bit underwater.

You could imagine his surprise seeing a great fish filled with sharp teeth, and a dorsal fin not unlike a dolphin (they had been chasing the ship for the past day and a half, so he had gotten a few pictures of them) come swimming up and swallowing the meat Melody had thrown into the water.

Newt took out the two-way mirror, unsure if Melody would be able to hear him through the bubble...and not wanting to chance it.

"What in the name of Merlin is that?" he asked.

Melody grinned at him.

"That, Newt, is what's known as a Great White. Oh look! There's a hammerhead coming this way now!" said Melody excitedly.

Newt watched with open fascination (and with many pictures) as the sharks began to swim around them. It was very interesting and he could see why Melody had brought him out here.

She looked at the time and they went back up, with the bubble automatically popping once they were well above the water.

Silently they flew back to the ship, unseen. Newt was smiling though, because that had been a rather interesting experience overall!

"How did you bring them to us?" he asked.

"Sharks can smell blood in the water. What I did is collectively known as 'chumming' which draws them close to where they smell 'food'. Sharks can smell a drop of blood in the ocean from miles away," said Melody cheerfully. She then produced one of her many books, and Newt happily dove into it the next morning.

* * *

China was filled with people, and Melody did a strategic retreat to Newt's side once they were past the port. She had opted for a skirt and long-sleeved shirt combination that suited her rather well, despite how plain the clothing was.

However Newt had to smile when he saw her perk up at the selection offered by the stalls. Even if it was dampened slightly at the price.

Since they weren't in any particular hurry, Newt and Melody spent the day regaining their land legs by going through the markets. Newt was silently impressed with the way Melody was able to ruthlessly haggle down the prices while at the same time acting so charming that the owners would be left with smiles, even as they realized how much she had beaten the price down.

Though it had been Melody who had dragged Newt far, far from the stalls serving food.

"Are you not feeling well?" he asked with concern.

"No, I just know a bit more about what the Chinese consider food and acceptable preparation than you do. The last thing you need is to see _that, _and honestly we would be better off eating at a restaurant," she replied.

Newt looked at the bags which she had discreetly cast an expansion charm on. From the way she power-shopped, he had the distinct feeling her wardrobe was going to fill up in short order.

Though a good portion of that had been spent on spices, foods, and the occasional book or scroll.

"Where did you find that much gold?"

"...I may or may not have angered the goblins, to the point that it was simply easier to do a mass withdrawal of my accounts and find a new way to store my family assets until they were no longer angry with me or my bloodline," she admitted sheepishly. "It's part of the main reason I learned how to create a pocket space using magic... gold is a pain to store without becoming extra paranoid about someone trying to rob you. That and my dragon side was pretty happy to have a sizeable horde to sleep on occasionally when the urge hit."

Newt...honestly had no idea how to respond to that.

"So all the gold you've been using?"

"From my vaults. Besides, it's not like I had much of a reason to spend it before," said Melody with a shrug. Her eyes glinted with delight. "Not to mention the fashions of the magical enclaves are just so drab, boring and outdated!"

It was times like these that Newt was reminded Melody was a woman. And that women in general liked to shop for new clothing to try on and make themselves look better. However Melody had shown zero interest towards the make-up, which he found mildly surprising.

As the two headed towards the small inn where they would be staying the night before adventuring into the wilds, Newt ran into a snag.

Namely the fact that the proprietor believed they were married and that the only room available was a single with a window.

Melody... was too busy trying not to laugh at the look on his face when he realized this.

Unfortunately it seemed Newt was the _only_ one who saw a problem with this.

"Newt, I've slept in a tent with little to no privacy before. I honestly do not have a problem with the idea and if it really bothers you then one of us can stand watch during the night while the other sleeps."

"You can't take your dragon form because the window has a perfect view of the building across from us," said Newt in protest.

Melody gave him an unamused look.

"All we're going to be doing is sleeping, correct? So long as both of us keep our clothes on I don't see what the issue is."

"It's improper."

"So you have no issue with cuddling with me as a dragon, but when I'm in human form you make a fuss?" she asked dubiously.

Well when she put it like that...

"So long as both our clothes stay on and neither of us attempt anything without the other's consent, it will be fine," said Melody. "If it _really_ bothers you, then just grab a pillow and use it as a barricade or something."

Newt flushed embarrassed.

"I just don't want to be improper. Mother would never let me hear the end of it and I really don't want anyone to think you're a scarlet woman."

Melody raised an eyebrow.

"Is _that_ what this is about?" she asked baffled. "Newt, if I thought for a moment you would have tried something like that I never would have gone into the case to begin with. And have you seen my preferences when it comes to what I wear? Last I checked women like that preferred to show _off_ their skin, rather than cover most of it up."

She did have a point.

"As for your mother...then if she has a problem with us sharing a room she can bring it to me and I'll set her straight. If nothing else you can claim I'm your research assistant that you decided to hire in order to help care for the animals since it's too dangerous for a young woman to wander around foreign countries and you offered to let me travel with you."

That helped to settle most of Newt's nerves. And he could legitimately claim Melody was his assistant, because she _had_ been helping him write his book, she took care of his animals and she was in charge of cooking.

It was just that this was the first time they had shared a bed together while Melody retained her human form, as she either turned into her smaller dragon form or slept in the case.

Newt tried to stay on his side of the bed, he really did. He even put up the 'pillow defense' as Melody had suggested on a lark.

Except when he woke up the next morning he found himself with his arms around her waist, his head against her hair and Melody was calmly snuggled against his neck sound asleep, the pillow under her.

He wanted to sputter, because he had hoped to avoid this very situation.

Instead he did the sensible thing.

He wrapped his arms around her a little tighter and went back to sleep.

* * *

Melody, Newt realized, was a mischievous spirit who enjoyed his awkwardness far too much.

However there was a certain seriousness to her as well. When she realized the light flirting she did with him after the slight embarrassment he felt over sharing the same bed for a single night was making him uncomfortable, she had offered to stop if he genuinely disliked it.

The expression in her eyes had said she would, if he truly wanted her to.

The thing was he couldn't find it in himself to make her stop when this was the most open he had seen her since he stumbled across her as a dragon. He also had no issue with the fact she occasionally grabbed his arm while they were in crowded areas, partially because she didn't want to be separated from him but mostly because she disliked being around so many people.

And then Melody saw something that caught her attention so strongly she had to stop and watch.

Newt followed her line of sight to where some women were practicing a rather odd, intricate dance with fans. The fans were very decorative, but there was an odd glint on them that made him realize that they were made of metal.

He thought she might try to buy a set...only for her to walk up to one of the women and inquire what style of dance they were practicing.

He had to smile a bit at the enthusiasm she showed towards learning. If not for those odd dreams he would have guessed her to be a Ravenclaw...her library certainly held enough research books to be mistaken for one.

However Melody had confirmed she was a Gryffindor, though the hat very nearly put her in Slytherin. Now though, she might be placed in any of the four houses.

Newt resigned himself to spending a few days in town, which meant he could observe the local culture and track down stories of where certain creatures would be located to observe and document.

Thank Merlin for the translation charm.


	6. Chapter 6

A week after docking, Newt and Melody prepared for their trip to the mountains. He fully intended to spend at least three weeks exploring the deeper areas of China before they headed back to port and went to Egypt. Melody had expressed an interest in the pyramids, and to be honest he was rather curious to see what they looked like himself...never mind the stories he heard about the ancient Egyptians mummifying their animals, particularly cats!

You could imagine his dismay having that particular revelation confirmed by Melody, who also knew far too much about the process of mummification for his comfort.

In fact they were just about to head out when a familiar voice called out to Newt.

"Newt! Newton Scamander!"

Newt turned, to find Charlus Potter.

"Charlus! What are you doing here?"

"Family business," said Charlus. "Thought you were in Africa?"

"Decided to take a break and explore the continent a bit."

Charlus took notice of the rather attractive young woman by Newt's side. He raised an eyebrow.

"Who's this?"

Before Newt had a chance to say anything, Melody introduced herself.

"Melody Peverell, of the Ancient house of Peverell," she replied. "Mr. Scamander was kind enough to hire me on as his research assistant since I was traveling Africa by myself and got into a spot of trouble with the locals. Something about how it was ungentlemanly for him to turn aside when a woman was in trouble. We ended up discussing creatures when he dropped his notebook, so he was somewhat relieved to have help with his research since he needed a proofreader."

All more or less true, just without leaving quite a bit of detail.

"Charlus Potter, ma'am," he replied. He wondered why she twitched at his last name. "Your mother is going to have a field day when she finds out about this."

"Melody has proven to be a very delightful travel companion," said Newt, wincing at the reminder. After Leta, his family had become slightly protective around him regarding matters of courtship. Her sudden betrayal had hit him hard, after all.

"So you're heading into the mountains for your book?" asked Charlus.

Newt nodded.

"How about I treat you both to dinner before you disappear? It would be fun to catch up," said Charlus.

The fact he fully planned to find out what Melody's intentions were for Newt was fairly obvious to them both.

Newt lead all three of them to a nice restaurant that had acceptable prices. Since Melody wanted to learn the dance style she had noticed (and had the money to pay for an "accelerated" lesson plan that mostly had the stances dumped into her brain so that she could practice them later) he had plenty of time to find a good place to eat.

Though he would be the first to admit that the meal was very awkward.

Charlus could play it off as keeping Newt up-to-date with how things were back home all he wanted, but it didn't change the fact he was discreetly trying to interrogate Melody. And he was being rebuffed with disturbing efficiency or given answers that made him drop the line of questioning within seconds.

Newt spent most of that meal observing the two, and couldn't help but come to the conclusion that when Melody introduced herself as Peverell, she was either using a distant ancestor or trying to hide the fact she was related to the Potters. The physical resemblance and the fact she oftentimes reminded him of Charlus when she was feeling rather mischievous (Newt hadn't forgotten the fright she gave him using that Wronski Feint the first time he rode on her back as a dragon) made it hard to ignore.

He had the sneaking suspicion Charlus could sense it too, but was more interested in finding out her intentions towards his best friend's younger brother than he was in determining if she was part of his family.

Melody had a distinctly unhappy face once they were able to escape, and Newt was entirely unsurprised when she turned into her dragon form, or that she draped herself across his neck.

_I can't _believe_ we ran into my grandfather _here_ of all places!_

Well, that confirmed his suspicion at least.

"Why didn't you tell him the truth?" asked Newt.

_Didn't you hear why he was in China in the first place? The last thing I want to deal with is him trying to assert any sort of authority over me just because we're related, _said Melody with an irate hiss. _I've had enough of people with 'well-meaning intentions' who assume they can dictate how I live my life simply because I share even a drop of blood with them!_

It had come as a shock learning she was related to the Weasleys through the Black family, but when Molly remembered that fact she hadn't hesitated to try and use that as a way to control Melody the same way she did her children.

Melody had put a stop to _that_ very quickly, and was part of the reason she made a point to avoid the magical enclaves entirely while shopping after. Besides, she had entire libraries worth of books to read from if she wanted to learn more about magic without having to rely on the more 'recent' additions. Never mind the sheer amount of information available on the mundane side of things.

It had taken her four _long_ months before she stumbled across a site that allowed her to order a few computers that were magic-compatible. From that point there was no turning back, as she had delved into any number of sites that caught her interest.

Including a few that left her blushing heavily...and wishing she had someone to share it with.

_Still...why was he so defensive about my intentions towards you?_

Newt winced.

"I had a betrothed, before I was kicked out of Hogwarts. We were discussing things like basilisks and the conditions behind them when someone found our research notes, and it was brought to the attention of the teachers. Leta decided to pin everything on me to save herself, which lead to my parents canceling the engagement," explained Newt.

_...Newt, you do realize the laws only prohibit the creation and birth of _new_ basilisks, not owning them, right?_ Melody said slowly.

Newt blinked.

"What do you mean they only prohibit new basilisks?" asked Newt baffled.

_If you check the laws concerning magical creatures, the only thing the Ministry puts an explicit ban on is creating new basilisks. There are no actual laws against _owning_ one that has been around long before said laws were put into effect,_ said Melody. _If you are really that interested in them, I know the location of one more than old enough to keep the Ministry from throwing a fuss... if anything it would be considered a Founder's artifact because it used to belong to Salazar Slytherin._

Newt stopped cold to stare at her incredulous.

"You know the location of a basilisk so old that it belonged to Salazar Slytherin?" he repeated.

_He _is_ a well-known parselmouth. Is it really that surprising that he would hatch a basilisk?_

"I thought basilisks were the creation of Herpo the Foul?" asked Newt.

_No, he's well known for delving into forbidden soul magics that have technically been around since Ancient Egyptian times,_ corrected Melody. _That piece of magic has given me no end of headaches during my school years. Not only is it a perversion of magic, but it's such a pain to destroy them!_

Newt had to shake his head and resume the previous line of questioning.

"How come I've never heard of a basilisk in Hogwarts?"

_You have. Surely you've heard of the 'terror' that lies within the Chamber of Secrets?_

Newt almost tripped at that.

"You know where the Chamber of Secrets is?!"

_The opening is on the second floor. When I attended school the location in question was a girl's bathroom,_ she replied dryly.

Newt wanted to cry. The entrance of the Chamber was a girl's loo? It was no wonder it had never been found...who would have looked there?

He couldn't help but think of the contrast between Melody and Leta.

Leta had been all too eager to throw him under the rampaging hippogryff to save herself. Whereas the second Melody heard about his interest in illegal magical creatures, her first response was the point out a minor loophole in the law regarding _ownership_ of them and was more than happy to share the fact she knew where to get one if he was actually interested.

_So your betrothed decided to throw you under the bus to save herself? She must have been a Slytherin,_ said Melody, changing the subject. _Then again, there is some truth in the old quote about bears and how to outrun them when provoked._

"What quote?" said Newt, walking right into the joke.

_You don't have to be faster than the angry bear, you just have to be faster than the person next to you,_ she replied dryly.

Newt choked, before laughing a little. He needed a laugh like that.

* * *

Charlus looked to where Newt and the woman who called herself "Melody Peverell" had vanished to.

Peverell his arse... it was obvious she was the mystery Potter his grandfather had sent him to track down. Then again, it was a little known fact that the Potters were descended from the Peverell line, so it was possible she was unaware of their relation and had merely latched on to the 'dead' line to avoid being accused of line theft.

The girl was as brash as a Gryffindor, sneaky as a Slytherin, as well educated as a Ravenclaw and had all the loyalty of a Hufflepuff, if the way she bristled when he even thought of implying Newt had been improper regarding sleeping arrangements.

Considering Newt had mentioned they were planning to spend at least a month in China, it gave him plenty of time to alert Theseus that his little brother may have found a new girlfriend...and to get the equipment from the Goblins to prove his theory that this Melody really was a Potter.

* * *

"How exactly did you manage to pull this off?" demanded Melody with some amusement.

"It wasn't intentional, I assure you!" said Newt quickly.

The situation was thus... while they were observing something Melody had identified as a "Zhenniao", they were startled by a creature appearing out of the brush, causing _both_ of them to tumble down a small hill past some vines.

Which lead to Newt being trapped against Melody, with his wand arm stuck between her bosom (which lead to Newt blushing like a tomato the instant he realized where his arm was positioned) on top of an amused Melody was almost flat on her back. The vines had become wrapped around them to the point it was going to take some delicate maneuvering before they could free themselves. The poisonous avians that Newt had been examining had long since flown off in the commotion, fortunately.

The problem was that Newt was having certain...reactions... every time he tried to move, which lead to him apologizing profusely and stopping in case he offended his assistant.

The entire thing ended in a less than amusing moment when Newt accidentally kissed Melody on the lips...and apologized with an embarrassed blush on his face once he registered what happened.

A strange expression crossed her face, before Melody did a partial transformation on her arms to shred the vines, causing Newt to wonder what was going on before he heard the case slam shut and realized Melody was no where to be found.

As he descended into the case to find her, he discovered evidence that he had upset her in some way...namely in the fact she was in her larger dragon form radiating enough heat that he was leery of going near her.

Rather than risk angering her further, Newt left the case and moved on.

For the next three days, Newt saw no sign of Melody outside her dragon form.

On the fourth he had enough, and went to find out what was upsetting her so much.

"What has gotten into you lately?" he asked with concern.

_Am I really so unattractive that you felt it necessary to apologize so much from a simple kiss?_

The moment Newt heard that question, he felt like kicking himself.

It had been so easy for him to forget that Melody had admitted that the men around her saw her more as a _prize_ to be won, rather than as an attractive young woman with dreams and thoughts of her own.

He was the first person to see the woman beneath whatever reputation Melody had in her own time and to treat her like a human being, not like a commodity to be passed around...and he had apologized for kissing her.

It was only natural she would take that sort of thing badly... it implied that he didn't think her interesting enough as a potential lover and wife.

Whatever his mother would have said about any impropriety that might have happened towards Melody would have been trounced by the massive rant she would have given him for toying with a young woman's heart and getting her hopes up, even if they never slept together.

"Melody, I didn't mean to upset you. I was just overcome with embarassment at being in that position in the first place that my first reaction to touching you like that was to apologize," said Newt. "And to be honest, I never would have apologized for the kiss at all if it wasn't for the circumstances behind it."

Melody turned to stare at him.

_What?_

"Please, won't you turn back into a human, even if it's only for a few minutes?" asked Newt.

He had the sinking suspicion that Melody wouldn't believe anything that he said. She had been lied to for so long that she had trouble believing the truth when she heard it from someone who was sincere.

Melody gave him a Look, before shifting back. Newt felt his heart sink when he realized she wasn't able to look in the eye for fear for what she would find there.

Newt took his hand, gently placed it against her right cheek, and pulled her close. Melody's eyes were wide and startled when Newt kissed her on the lips.

This wasn't like before, when boys were more inclined to mash their lips against her as hard as they could. This was gentle, loving and made her heart skip a beat.

When they parted, Melody was blushing red as a tomato and Newt was looking at her with such love in her eyes she had trouble believing it was directed at her.

"I love you. And I'm sorry I made you feel as though I didn't find you attractive."

"You...love me?" she repeated in shock.

"Why wouldn't I? You're intelligent, witty, mischievous, adventurous, caring, kind and you're one of the most beautiful women I've ever met," said Newt in a rush, but he meant every word. "You're the first woman I've ever met who genuinely cares about creatures regardless of their appearance or personality as much I do."

Newt carefully wiped away the tears in her eyes hearing that honest assessment. He couldn't believe that she had never heard someone say that about her and actually mean it without trying to hurt her after.

Cautiously, and making it clear she could break out of his hold if she felt it necessary, Newt pulled her into a gentle embrace.

Instead of pulling away, Melody wrapped her arms around him tightly and just cried into his shoulder, while Newt rested his head on top of hers.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning saw a change to the routine Newt had developed with Melody. As the designated cook of the two, Melody was the one who usually woke up first (mostly out of habit) and began breakfast. Newt would get up, check on all the creatures, before taking a shower and getting dressed for the day.

Today Newt opted to skip that chore, and made sure Melody knew he was in the room before carefully walking up behind her and hugging her from behind.

Melody squeaked, but once she registered who was holding her she relaxed into his arms.

For all her adventureous spirit, Newt had discovered with some dismay that Melody had trouble with being touched. Oh, she could handle 'negative' touches such as hits just fine, but the second it turned 'positive' such as hugs, kisses or light touches against her skin she froze.

It painted a very unhappy image of what her childhood and teenage years were like, if her first reaction to being touched was expecting it to turn painful. She had clearly been 'trained' out of flinching at sudden hugs, but she still froze for a split second when he hugged her.

For that reason alone Newt had been treating her the same way he would have treated one of his abused creatures. He gave her space when it was clear she was having a minor panic attack, but stayed close when doing so would set her back.

So far he had managed to acclimatize her to his presence, which meant she could instinctively dismiss him as a potential threat. Out of the two of them, Melody's natural instincts towards danger were the highest. And that was _before_ her dragon instincts came into play.

Melody blushed heavily when he lightly kissed her on the cheek. Newt resolved then and there to get her used to physical affection, even if it went against nearly every rule his mother had more or less pounded into the heads of her sons.

There was a time for being a gentleman, and a time for being forward. Melody had already responded well to his polite side, so now it was time to shift tactics and be slightly more forward.

It was certainly more than he had ever attempted with Leta, but then again she had kept him at arm's distance for the most part.

In retrospect the fact she generally avoided allowing him to do more than peck her on the cheek occasionally should have been a major clue her feelings for him were not the same ones he had for her.

Seeing the slight confusion in Melody's eyes whenever he treated her like a potential lover hurt, but Newt pushed through it. He knew the only way he was going to help her move past whatever trauma she endured before was to push past his own insecurities about being too forward.

When Melody exited the case, Newt noticed that she stood just a little straighter.

He considered it a major victory when she shyly kissed him on the cheek without warning. The fact he didn't immediately rebuff her, but kissed her back made her blush even harder. Still it seemed that was the signal for Melody to display light signs of physical affection such as holding his hand without warning, or simply leaning against him while he was sketching something for his book.

Melody really should have expected her poor luck to kick in, now that things were finally looking up for her.

Melody took _one_ look at the tattoos, and was fully prepared to drag Newt far, far away from the area. She might not be able to identify what was on the tattoos but she recognized the fact they had stumbled on a hidden Triad base easily enough.

No matter what language you spoke and what country you were in, it was a universal fact that hardened criminals who would happily commit murder to keep their secrets generally behaved the same. A normal person might not know what they were up to or what sort of acts they had committed or were about to, but there was no way to hide the aura of barely contained bloodshed.

A tiger can no more hide it's stripes, after all.

Except Melody's fine-tuned senses for trouble told her that it was too late to escape... a fact confirmed when she spotted cameras in the trees above, which had almost certainly caught them.

Instead she found a discreet area and cast the disillusionment charm on the case, to Newt's confusion. Then she pulled something out of her pocket dimension and threw it over them both, being careful to cover them completely.

"Melody... what..."

"Be quiet," she hissed.

Newt seemed to sense _something_ was wrong, because the cheerful, kind Melody had suddenly been replaced with the same aura Theseus had during the war, when things were about to go bad and they would likely have to fight their way out of the worst of it.

This wasn't the woman he had met...this was a general who wouldn't hesitate to be rude and abrasive if it meant getting her men out alive and mostly intact.

The mythozoologist decided to fall back under the same patterns of behavior that he had during the war and kept his mouth shut. Melody clearly had more experience than he did in these sort of matters, so their best chance of survival was for him to follow her lead explicitly.

He knew he had made the right move when several rough looking men appeared wielding guns, all of whom were clearly ready and willing to shoot at the first sight of intruders.

Melody _might_ have been willing to slip the both of them out of the area...except she had seen something that royally pissed her off that she would blatantly ignore the Statute of Secrecy entirely.

There, in the distance were magical creatures clearly being exploited. She wasn't sure if the Triads had wizards on staff, or if the wizards were just making use of a business arrangement to export their creatures illegally, but either way there was no way she was going to let it continue.

Never mind how it offended her personally, the second Newt realized what was going on he would almost certainly charge in headfirst to save them!

"Newt... we are about to head into a really unpleasant situation and there are chances we might get captured. If that happens, I want you to follow my lead completely and focus on getting out of here alive rather than anything I might say or do. Can you handle that?" asked Melody, eyes hard and in full mission mode.

Newt looked her dead in the eyes and nodded. Then again, he had just seen what Melody had already noticed...that creatures were being put through inhumane conditions for a profit. There was no way he would be able to turn his back to that and be able to sleep soundly at night.

Of course it didn't help that Melody had been in his case the last time he added a new influx of creatures. She had no idea how dangerous he could be when he came across poachers.

"I hope you don't have an issue with killing," she commented.

Newt shook his head.

"I fought in the war. I might not be very good with guns but I can hold my own in a spell fight."

"Guns are easy. They fire in a straight line unless the one holding it is able to use trick shots. So long as you can put up a spell to decrease the momentum behind the bullet, you won't have to worry much about them. From what I can tell, I think this lot is more about quantity, rather than quality so the odds of finding a proper sharpshooter are pretty low. Either way I intend to take anyone stupid enough to display that sort of skill out first," said Melody bluntly. "What I'm warning you about is the spells I'm likely to use. I'm not particularly nice to creeps like this."

"If you can keep the bulk of the spellfire and the guns on you, I can focus on getting the creatures free and into the case. Right now my main priority is seeing them safe and seeing _us_ out of this area as quickly as possible. We might have to cut our trip across China short," he replied without hesitation. "Whatever spells or abilities you feel necessary to get out of this mess with as many of them with us, we can talk about it later."

Melody measured him, before nodding. Newt felt gratified that she was able to accept his ability to follow orders without hesitation and was willing to have her back.

She conjured a scrunchy and tied her hair up into a simple bun, exposing her neck.

Until this point Newt had never really seen the bare skin on her back, as she preferred to leave her hair down and she wore rather modest clothing.

Now he had an unobstructed view, and he realized he had been given a clue towards the trauma Melody had suffered.

There was no other way to explain the scarring he _could_ see that clearly extended down her back other than spell damage. And that wasn't getting into the slight dip that appeared to be from a spike of some sort across her shoulder.

Melody and Newt snuck into the compound, with Melody paying extra careful attention to the cameras.

She wasn't entirely sure if heat-sensitive cameras had been developed yet, but she wasn't taking her chances.

They were able to make it halfway through the base before Newt tripped on something and alerted the men to their existence.

From there, all the kid gloves were off. Melody pulled a gun Newt had never seen before out of nowhere and began shooting with considerably greater skill than the men around them, while Newt kept his head down and kept moving to where they had seen the creatures.

Newt wisely kept his silence when he realized Melody preferred shots that would practically guarantee a one-hit kill, or at least would be fatal in short order.

Much like the incident at the port before they came to China, she seemed to slip into the mindset of ending the fight as fast as possible with maximum prejudice if necessary.

Considering she never aimed towards him and made a point of avoiding the creatures he was trying to save, Newt decided to withhold judgement.

In the end, one of the men managed to get a lucky shot and hit her in the shoulder.

Newt found it very telling that Melody barely did more than yelp in surprise, before fury appeared on her face.

What happened next explained far too much about her past that it made Newt's heart break.

Melody turned into a mist he had only ever heard of in books and in warnings from his COMC professor.

Melody was an Obscurial. One that had managed to salvage what little control she had over her magic in order to become a proper witch, but it didn't change the fact she had been abused in her past to the point her magic created a malevolent force bent on death and destruction as a coping mechanism to make the pain stop.

He could only assume that the reason the color was off was because Melody had mostly come to terms with the abuse and it had changed from a pitch black smoke to the light silver color he had only ever seen on a patronus because that was the natural "color" of her magic. That or it was a natural occurrence for when an Obscurial reformed.

At the very least, with the appearance of the deadly cloud the battle suddenly became very one-sided. Very little could stop an enraged Obscurial.

Melody, when she reverted back to human form, could do little more than head into the case to crash. Once Newt finished retrieving all the animals he could find that were being abused or were about to be butchered for parts, he promptly apparated far, far from the area and took out one of the brooms Melody had left in the case for emergencies.

He grabbed the fastest one he could remember being used, and took off.

He put several hours and many leagues between him and that compound, but not before making sure they were almost completely isolated.

Once he secured the safety of himself and the case for a few hours in cave that he promptly hid, he went into the case to help settle the new additions and to check on Melody.

It took him four hours to settle the creatures, and by that point he was exhausted. Some of them had been in very bad shape, and if not for Melody's paranoia about having plenty of healing potions in stock, he might not have been able to help as many as he did.

He still wasn't sure what that horse-like creature was, but it had been chained with some particularly nasty spells and had been kept in a place of honor near the lead muggle.

When he found Melody, she had more or less passed out on the bed.

Newt thought about letting her sleep, but her light sleeping habit and the fact she was still in battle mode dissuaded that idea.

He walked up to her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"You are not evil and you most certainly are not a monster. I've had my suspicions about the abuse, and all this incident has done was confirm the severity of it," he said firmly. "When you're ready to talk or to share what happened, I will listen. Right now I want you to sleep and try to adjust back into our normal routine before we go anywhere else."

"You don't think I'm an abomination?" she asked quietly.

"I think you are a wonderful woman who was put through far too much trauma because of the people around you, and I thank the gods every day that you trusted me enough to let me in," said Newt honestly. "I know all too well that in a war, things like mercy and compassion are one of the first things thrown out, especially in a battle. You at least never drew out their misery and went straight for attacks that would kill them relatively quickly rather than making them suffer."

Melody couldn't help the snort of derision hearing that.

"At least you have more common sense and practicality than Albus bloody Dumbledore," she said.

"What do you have against Professor Dumbledore?" asked Newt in honest confusion.

Melody blinked.

"Newt... you _do_ remember I come a few decades from now, right?" she said slowly.

Newt blinked. In all honesty he had a tendency to forget that in favor of insuring Melody was able to recover from her trauma.

"Albus Dumbledore is the entire reason I _became_ an Obscurial in the first place, not to mention the fact that my school life was far from normal. Because of him, I was forced to almost single-handedly fight a Dark Lord with limited to no back-up save for people too damn stupid to realize that sometimes you have to fight force with equal force if you want to put an end to the atrocities being committed," said Melody coldly. "Dumbledore's ridiculus notions of forgiveness for people who openly practice disgusting acts like rape, torture and outright murder caused far too many deaths, especially since he never bothered to act on the information he was given until it was far too late and he was stuck cleaning up."

Newt didn't want to believe it.

"I can't believe Professor Dumbledore would do something like that."

Melody slowly got up and went to the library. She then summoned three books, all of which had details about the war against Grindlewald that happened alongside World War II.

"In all honesty Newt, while Dumbledore may be powerful he is an idiot and a horrible general. Rather than get involved directly in the fight against Grindlewald, he stayed hiding in Hogwarts until the end and defeated the man in a duel. Meanwhile numerous men and women fought against him and his forces, making sacrifices to insure that the man didn't win. And yet the Ministries all credit _Dumbledore_ with defeating the dark lord, despite the fact he only swept in and claimed the glory at the end."

Melody tactfully did not mention that Newt would challenge Grindlewald personally, on more than one occasion and successfully beat the man to a standstill. Just because Dumbledore finally beat the dark lord to a duel didn't make him a hero. It made him a glory hound.

However nothing she said would change Newt's view of the man who had saved him from losing his wand. So she wouldn't bother.


	8. Chapter 8

When Melody disappeared for a few hours, Newt thought nothing of it. Considering she had been in dragon form at the time he merely assumed she had gone out flying again to clear her head.

He would regret that error when he found out she had raided the compound a second time, for the sake of properly _looting_ it no less. Newt had only gone in for the animals, Melody had apparently taken it upon herself to steal anything of worth that she felt like stealing.

"Is that a pensieve?" said Newt in shock.

"Yeah, who would have expected those losers to have one?" said Melody cheerfully.

"Isn't this stealing?" said Newt.

"Only if we get caught, and odds are they acquired it illegally anyway. If we find the rightful owners we can return it then, but until then it's ours," said Melody without a hint of shame. She gave him a Look. "Besides, didn't you add the butchered parts of those we couldn't save into our potions stock?"

Newt flushed, and realized she had a point. He couldn't really talk after salvaging the animal parts already removed for their own stock.

The two of them spent the next three days getting the new animals settled in, and Newt was rather glad that the 'ecosystem' Melody had helped him to make allowed them to adjust relatively quickly to their new surroundings.

He did wonder why the odd horse kept following Melody around so much though.

* * *

_A few days later..._

Much to Newt's relief, they made it out of China without incident.

Of course that might have had something to do with the fact that rather than take the muggle way of leaving the country, Melody took it upon herself to _fly_ them out of China.

Newt honestly had no idea that dragons had an innate magic that allowed them to go invisible to humans if they were so inclined.

It took them ten hours to reach Egypt, and Melody managed to sneak onto a boat and made it look like they had left the country legally.

He would only find out after the fact they had managed to avoid Charlus and Theseus.

Once they visited a few bazaars, Melody and Newt set up shop in the desert. As there was a particularly nasty sandstorm about to hit, they were unlikely to be interrupted for the next couple of hours.

As such, the moment the storm started to properly rage outside their small refuge Melody pulled out the pensieve that she had 'acquired' in China.

Newt watched as Melody began to pour memory after memory into the bowl.

"I've already checked, and there are no unpleasant surprises with this. It's just an ordinary pensieve. And since we have some time to ourselves, I figured this was the most...efficient... way to explain about my past. Some things are easier shown than said."

Considering the limited amount of information Melody had already shared, Newt had the feeling that was an understatement. He also knew he wouldn't be able to look at her the same once he had viewed even a fraction of them.

He gathered all of his courage, looked Melody in the eyes...and touched the memories.

It was hell. There was no other way to describe Melody's childhood. Sure, it skimmed the majority of the years, but it hit upon the highlights easily enough.

The only reason Newt didn't attempt to save that small child was because he knew in his heart that it was already too late. Melody had survived to become the woman he was swiftly falling in love with.

He had to stop after witnessing the bombardment of Hogwarts letters, mostly so he could throw up in the corner.

Melody had her back to the bowl and was cooking something that smelled delicious.

Newt washed his mouth out, then turned his body towards the bowl.

If her childhood was a living hell, then what atrocities were awaiting him for her Hogwarts years?

He had witnesses the iron slowly turned into untempered steel. Now he would have to see what it would be forged into.

By the time Newt finished all the way to the end of her 'schooling', he couldn't help his reaction when he saw Melody.

He walked right up to her, threw his "propriety" out the window, and hugged her tightly.

Someone had taken an innocent young child...and conditioned her into a weapon. Worse, she hadn't even been given a chance to find a reason to live on her own terms. The 'sheep' had been all to happy to shove her into a cage without regards to her feelings.

Being thrown into the past was honestly the best thing to happen to her. She had a chance to be herself and to heal.

Melody was silent, though if she took the chance to hug Newt tightly that night while in human form, he said nothing. Far from it...Newt clutched her tightly without any sign of letting her go at all. Any inhibitions he had to helping her sleep at night died after seeing what she went through.

Melody certainly wasn't complaining about the light make-out session Newt started the next morning. Considering he was always so worried about touching something he shouldn't, it was a nice change of pace.

Though she had put her foot down and informed the overly-polite Mythozoologist that if he ever _did_ touch or do something she didn't appreciate or like, she would let him know in spades.

And she wouldn't be using something as dull as a stinging hex to make her displeasure known.

Since they were in Egypt and Melody _did_ want to explore for a while, Newt found a quaint little ship that was sailing down the Nile to another port. It was small enough that Melody wouldn't be overwhelmed and cheap enough that Newt could afford it with his limited muggle funds.

Once again they found themselves sharing a room, but this time Newt firmly squashed his usual reaction to sharing a bed with an unmarried woman his own age in favor of allowing Melody to use him as a sort of 'shield' against her inevitable nightmares.

He found her shortly after dinner in an intense discussion with a rather vibrant young woman with a familiar English accent debating on mummies of all things.

"I'm telling you, I _have _heard of the 'Hom-Dai' being used once. Granted, it was a high priest who had royally pissed off the royal family _and_ killed the pharaoh he served under...who was also fooling around with the pharaoh's intended."

"How come _I've_ never heard of it?" countered the other woman.

Melody rolled her eyes.

"Do you really think tomb raiders and other Egyptologists have found _every_ tomb? Besides, considering how feared the Hom-Dai was, I sincerely doubt the ones who performed it would have kept a record for fear of some idiot deliberately trying to gain the mummy's power. _I_ only heard of the incident because a friend's older brother made a living dealing with ancient tombs and he heard about it from the older curse breakers who barely managed to survive the incident," said Melody. "Apparently some idiot manage to read from the Book of the Dead while in one of the most well known tombs in Egypt, and woke the mummy up."

"Which tomb?"

"Hamunaptra," said Melody.

"What a coincidence. We're heading to Hamunaptra ourselves," said the woman's brother.

"Please tell me you're not actually after the gold in the place," said Melody with a grimace. "That tomb is filled with centuries of history that has been lost and forgotten, and all people ever talk about is that bloody gold!"

The other woman, Evelyn, beamed at her for that.

"Finally, someone with sense! Personally I would like to find the Book of the Dead and the Book of Amun Ra."

"I've heard of those! Isn't the Book of the Dead the _original_ copy for how to prepare ancient burial rites?" said Melody enthusiastically.

"So brings you two to Egypt?" asked their companion. He called himself Rick.

"We're Cryptozoologists. We study new and unknown creatures to science that people believe to be of a...mythical...persuasion," said Melody.

Newt managed to hold in his confusion, especially when the muggles and squib believed her.

When they had a moment to themselves... Melody had become fast friends with Evelyn and oddly enough Rick... Newt looked at her.

"Cryptozoologist is basically the same thing as a Mythozoologist, except most muggles won't take them nearly as seriously as they should. However it _is_ a known profession, so you can honestly claim you are one and show off one of the minor magical species like a Crup and claim it's an unknown find to science that you are currently studying."

"And muggles will believe it?" said Newt dubiously.

"So long as it's not too obvious that the creature is magical...like unicorns or dragons for instance... muggles will believe damn near anything if given a reasonable explanation that they can fit into previously defined parameters," said Melody with amusement. "How else did you think we were able to pass off my much smaller dragon form as some new species of lizard so easily?"

Newt blinked, as he had mostly forgotten that. He _had_ found it very odd that the muggles accepted his explanation so quickly and didn't even look at Melody twice after.

"So, what do you think?" asked Newt. She knew he meant the siblings and their American friend.

"Remember how I said some idiot woke up a mummy who was cursed? It was the woman I was talking to," said Melody dryly.

Newt choked.

"Are you sure?"

"Evelyn, Rick and Johnathan are all the names of the three who survived Hamunaptra...and woke up a three thousand year old mummy who was really pissed off. Now frankly I could care less about some treasure hunters, but I would rather not be caught flat footed because that mummy followed them _back_ from those tombs to chase after those who opened up the cursed chest."

Newt cast a glance to the trio. He silently agreed with Melody...there was a very high chance they might get caught on the wrong side of this mess if they weren't careful.

"Besides, curse breaking is a very lucrative job in the time period I come from, even if the goblins have monopolized the idea. I say we offer to go with them to help document the place and quietly rob the place of anything with magic on it...and get some gold too."

"Why?" asked Newt.

"Because after they release the mummy, his reincarnated girlfriend leads a dig to the area and they find a lot of artifacts that are absolutely not for mundane hands. Besides... I heard a rumor from Bill that there were several horcruxes in that bloody tomb and I want to destroy them," said Melody.

"Why not nip it in the bud right now?" asked Newt.

Melody coughed at that.

"Because their son is my great-grandfather and it was this little adventure that brought them together. I'm all for changing the timeline, but not _that_ much."

Newt blinked.

"So how do you plan on joining their group?"

"I have cameras and I wanted to document Hamunaptra anyway when I realized who she was. Why not offer to help them with the excavation?"

Evelyn clearly had no problem with it and as Melody cheerfully pointed out that if there really _was_ all that gold there was no reasonable way for them to carry it back on their own. Besides, she was more interested in photographing the place (like a tourist) than she was in the money.

Considering Rick had run in to an "old friend" and learned he was leading his own team to the cursed ruins, he didn't particularly care if the odd couple joined their group instead. Melody had already given him enough reason to believe she would be good at keeping Evelyn safe at least, and Newt seemed to have a good head on his shoulders.

Though he had to wonder what sort of parents would name their son "Newt" of all things.

_Later that night..._

"What on earth?" said Newt in alarm.

"I smell fire," said Melody. "We need to find them."

Melody had to fight back a laugh when she saw Rick toss Evelyn over the bannister into the water. Newt already had his case with him and Melody had her bag, so the two swiftly followed suit and stuck with Evelyn.

"Are you alright?" asked Newt.

"I'm fine...just miffed that we've lost everything we had with us," said Evelyn.

"Not everything. I'm sure I have a few outfits you can borrow until we reach a caravan or something," said Melody.

The relief on Evelyn's face was obvious. Then again she was in her night gown and barefoot. While the desert was blistering hot in the day, it was _freezing_ at night, particularly after an unexpected swim.

Newt, realizing what she meant and was quick to share his coat. Evelyn gave him a thankful look as Rick came to join them.

Hearing they were on the right side of the river, Melody had to laugh at the expression the sleazy little man who reminded her far too much of Pettigrew had on his face realizing his error.

"Anyone mind too much if I make that little weasel with the stupid hat miserable?" asked Melody.

Considering the dark amused snort of Rick, that would be a "no".

"What do you have against him?" asked Evelyn.

"Just look at him! He's a spineless little weasel who would happily help the worst human imaginable rather than stand against them simply because it means he would be immune to their rampage, even if it meant hindering those trying to stop them!" said Melody annoyed.

"Yeah, that sounds exactly like Beni," said Rick in agreement.


	9. Chapter 9

Newt promptly took over the ardous task of securing transportation across the desert. Namely because he _knew_ animals and he planned to get the surliest ones he could find. Most people were happy to get rid of them, unaware of his effect on creatures.

Considering Jonathan was having absolutely no luck of it, he happily handed the task over to Newt.

It took all of thirty minutes for the ornery camels Newt had managed to acquire to become far more docile and pleasant. Needless to say any complaints Rick or the others had to his presence or Melody's died at that. They still didn't like the warden though...there was nothing Newt could do about that, not that he tried overly hard.

Though he would admit to stumbling a bit when he saw what Melody and Evelyn came out in. Evelyn shared a secret, feminine smirk with Melody at his reaction. Especially since Rick had a similar reaction to her new outfit.

Newt helped Melody onto his camel, which had two humps instead of one. It was far from the most pleasant thing to ride, but a few charms on the saddle took care of the worst of it.

Though he had to kick himself discreetly when Melody asked him why he didn't simply buy four camels and then cast a minor perception charm so that the others believed they were riding camels as well. It would have been far more pleasant overall.

It was tricky enough to stop and feed the animals in his case, and Melody felt absolutely no issue with using a few charms to discreetly hide the fact he was inside his case while she rode on the camel.

Or to let her get a break from riding for a few hours to nap inside the case. Considering they had been giving friendly, slightly evasive answers about themselves, it was better than nothing.

To the great relief of Newt and Melody, they soon found themselves at the borders of the cursed city.

So did the other party lead by Beni. Melody didn't know what he was talking about when they said something about a bet, but she found it amusing regardless.

Melody took out her camera and started taking picture upon picture. Though the second they split up from the others she was so bringing out her camera phone...it could take a lot more and had better quality. Besides, she could zoom on it without having to get too close.

Newt looked at the excited expression of Melody as she started taking pictures, while happily discussing Egyptian history and rituals with Evelyn. He smiled... he was finally seeing the vibrant woman that had been hiding under the slightly skittish girl he had come to know and love.

Though it certainly wasn't helping his rising feelings for her when Melody insisted on cuddling against him in human form! Every time he woke up with his arm trapped in between the two soft mounds on her chest with her laying against him with a content smile on her face, he kept wondering what she would look like if they were more than just friends.

It was highly improper of him...goodness knows Mother certainly would make no bones of how she felt about the matter.

But his mother wasn't here, and neither was Theseus.

Newt's resolve on the matter died when he realized she was practically laying against him in the cool morning light.

To hell with propriety...he was going to _do_ something about these feelings once this particular mess was over. It was about high time he did!

Though she really wasn't helping when she somehow managed to find liquor and became a bit of a giggly drunk.

"Why is your hair so curly?" she asked, giggling slightly as she pulled at it.

"I blame my father for that," admitted Newt with a smile.

_Later that night..._

Newt followed a half-asleep Melody deep, deep into the ruins. He could tell by her eyes that she was neither awake or aware of her actions. Something was calling her.

He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing considering the location they were at.

Following close enough that he could keep up with her, but not so much that the desire to grab her and shake her awake would be overwhelming, Newt kept even pace with Melody.

Only to have a near heart attack when he found her heading to an area Evelyn had happily described as an unofficial "archway to the land of the dead" when she had seen it. Part of the top arch had been damaged, but the heiroglyphs were still visible enough for her to determine what it was. It was considered a bad omen to pass through it, so the group had detoured to take another path to avoid misfortune. That and it had given them all a bad feeling.

Seeing Melody not only head for it, but walk under it made Newt only second guess himself for a few seconds before he hurriedly followed after her.

By this point he was well and truly alarmed, and he grabbed her hand the moment it was within reach.

This proved to be a very smart move, though she did not awaken when he did so. The moment his hand latched on to hers, he became very aware that they were not alone.

And that the things around them were not only decidedly _un_friendly to the living, but would have torn his soul apart the moment he became aware of them. Melody, for some unknown reason seemed either immune or protected from their ill intent, but Newt had no such protection.

He kept his silence, not wanting to draw the attention of the things following them, but he was well and truly worried for Melody at this point.

When she finally stopped, it took Newt a few moments to register who they were standing before and he immediately did everything in his power not to draw it's attention.

What in the name of Merlin was _Anubis_ doing here?

Newt could not hear what the god was saying, and he had zero doubts this was the genuine article. It wasn't for his ears to hear.

However he did take note when the scenery changed and they were brought before what he could only assume was Osiris (thank you Evelyn for your impromptu lessons on Egyptian mythology and the chief gods therein on the trip to the ruins).

Newt wisely kept his mouth shut and did not let go of Melody's hand. He knew instinctively that doing so was a horrible idea and that he would never make it out of this if he did.

When he felt a cat rub up against him, Newt bent down slightly to stroke it's fur, but kept a firm grip on Melody's hand.

Pleased by the attention, the feline jumped onto his shoulder which allowed him to properly lavish it with affection, much like any other cat would demand. He got the same sort of reception from the number of Kneazles and strays he tended to pick up that deigned to allow him to keep them.

Finally the other gods deigned to notice him, which did not help his mellow. However the cat on his shoulders wasn't about to let such a thing stop his petting, so he used it as a shield for his poor nerves which were quite shot at the moment.

For some unknown reason, Newt could finally hear the words spoken to Melody.

From what he could understand, they were offering her wealth, fame, power or anything else she could demand...but he would not be included in the bargain.

Newt knew he did not belong here or have the same implicit permissions Melody did, and that the odds of him making it out of this particular mess were very low. He was only being tolerated because he had not yet let go of Melody's hand.

Melody gave him a long gaze, and there was a sort of ancient wisdom behind her eyes that he had seen once or twice and accepted. She was an old soul in a young body, as he had known from the start. However when she was around him that tired gaze would soften considerably to something far more alive and playful.

"Power without purpose is meaningless. Wealth and fame have never interested me in the least. I see no reason to take on such a burden simply because you found the previous protector _highly_ unsatisfactory," she replied. "Nothing you could offer me right now would be worth what Newt means to me."

That caused Newt to flush, and hope spring in his chest that his affections towards her would be returned.

Suddenly the cat on his shoulders jumped off...and became a woman.

Newt's eyes widened at that, before he had to fight the urge to chuckle. Of course he would attract the attentions of another female animagus. He did note with some interest that she held decidedly lion-like features, as opposed to the Egyptian Mau form she held earlier.

"_I like him. His feelings towards her are strong and true. He was brave enough to face the realms of the dead in spite of the fact he had no idea whether he would survive or not despite the fact his feelings towards the Lady have yet to be returned or properly acknowledged."_

The stare down from the gods around him were highly disconcerting and far worse than what his mother would give him if she ever learned he had been sharing the same bed as Melody before they were properly married. It felt (and he was very certain that was _exactly_ what was happening) as though they were peering into his very soul to find faults and a reason to kill him on the spot.

Fortunately for his continued existence, they found nothing. Or at least whatever faults they did find were not sufficient reason to kill him anyway.

Newt wasn't entirely certain what happened after that, as he blacked out shortly after the feline-animagus smiled at him and kissed him on the forehead. All he knew was that he woke up leaning against the archway with Melody standing over him bemused.

"Come on Newt... I think you could use a long rest after that," she said.

"What just happened?" he asked. He wasn't sure if that was some sort of bizarre dream or what.

"Some places are closer to the realms belonging to the gods, or at least one set in particular. Hamunaptra happens to be _very _close to the realms of the dead, and because of something that happened to me I happen to have an affinity for it. Since I haven't tried to exploit that affinity, and because a certain _someone_ is going to be woken up, the gods of the dead decided to test whether I could handle the responsibility. I wasn't expecting you to follow me though," she admitted, rubbing her right shoulder a bit.

Newt honed in on that, and noticed she was trying to cover something up.

"What happened to your arm?" he asked in open concern.

She sighed, and revealed an odd tattoo on her shoulder.

"It's the sacred mark of the tomb keepers. Basically when the people who attacked camp earlier see it, it's supposed to symbolize that I am one of them or something to that effect. Or at least an ally to their particular cause anyway. On an unrelated note, none of the curses on the gold in the treasury will effect us and they have no issue with us raiding all the scrolls and papyrus so that the knowledge contained isn't lost."

Becoming the new guardian of the Book of the Dead and the Book of the Living was annoying, but so long as she never abused the power contained within, she (and to a lesser extent Newt) were given immunity to death curses.

She also wasn't going to chance seeing how much protection she held against Imhotep, at least not straightaway as that was just tempting things. Besides, her status had yet to fully settle in.

Newt only found out what Bastet (as Evelyn bemusedly explained the odd feline-animagus woman was) had given him as a 'reward' for his foolish stunt in following Melody shortly after they hid inside the case when Imhotep was woken up by Evelyn.

He could understand his creatures. Not in a general 'feeling' towards what they wanted or needed, but actually _hear_ their thoughts and communicate with them.

It was rather surprising for everyone save for Melody, who found the entire situation somewhat hilarious. On an unrelated note, every feline in his case became extra affectionate and responsive towards him. Which also included the nundu, to his consernation. At least _that_ particular creature didn't insist on becoming a lap cat like every other feline.

Which made sense. Bastet was a feline goddess who could also take the form of a lioness. She was particularly fond of Melody, which was also quite understandable as his beloved dragoness had been a Gryffindor.

Though it took him several hours before Imhotep and his new minion left to discover a new addition to the case. He wasn't sure where the snowy owl had come from, but it's presence made Melody absolutely delighted to the point she had squealed when she saw it.

(He would only find out much later, when they left for Sudan, that the owl in question was Melody's first familiar...the same one who had been lost in defense of her human mistress during the war.)

Newt couldn't help but _stare_ at the vast treasury. It was more gold than he had ever seen in his life. And with Imhotep after the fools who opened the chest and borrowed (in the words of a vindictively amused Melody) the Book of the Dead, they were free to raid the place.

"Are you sure it's alright for us to take this?"

"Contrary to popular belief at the time, you can't actually _take_ the gold with you. The gods would acknowledge the fact that the deceased had a lavish lifestyle in life and adjust their afterlife accordingly, but the gold had no actual _impact_ beyond that once they were judged. Besides, have you ever seen the Bloody Baron or Sir Nickolas concerned over the state of their vaults?" she said bemused.

It took him a moment to realize she meant Nearly Headless Nick, before he chuckled himself.

"You have a point."

"And this far out in the desert, the only thing the tribes would concern themselves over would be _water_ and food, not some shiny trinket that did nothing but look pretty. The Medjai were more interested in keeping Imhotep asleep than they were about the gold," she said.

The leader of the group that had stormed the camp several days ago had taken one look at the tattoo on her shoulder and given her a look of wary respect. They also didn't try to chase them off in the least, which was surprising.

"Still. What are we going to do with all this?"

"Piss off the goblins by raiding this place first and insuring none of the mundanes gets their hands on the cursed stuff, which we can give to any number of Grindlewald's bunch of idiots if we run into them," deadpanned Melody. "Gold is dead weight and it's doing no use laying around here. Think of it as a way to pay for the upkeep of your creatures...meat is expensive and this would pay for it several times over so we never have to use one of our creatures to pay for it. Besides, if I recall correctly some idiot hits the 'switch' that makes the entire ruins disappear after this little venture, so we might as well take as much as we can carry."

Newt's unease suddenly turned speculative. Then an impish gleam appeared on his face as he gave her a Look.

"You just want a massive hoard for yourself," he said teasingly.

It was a well known fact dragons _loved_ gold. There were countless stories of them hoarding it, as well as kidnapping princesses.

Melody's eyes sparkled with amused delight.

"There is that. Now the bigger question is where do we put this? I mean gold doesn't rust, but it seems silly to have it take up space in one of the empty habitats."

Newt eyed the gold, then Melody and an amused grin appeared on his face.

"I have an idea... You get the first piles ready and I'll get the space prepared inside the case."

What Melody found when she started to levitate _large_ piles of gold into the case had her almost _drop_ said gold from laughing outright.

Newt had made a cave, but not just any cave.

He had made a _dragon_ cave fit for a proper hoard that was big enough for the 'average dragon size' of Maleficent, since she could only turn into the full size outside the case. It was charmed in such a way to add an expansion charm automatically whenever there was a new addition of treasure. Considering the amount of gold in the place, it was almost certain that there would still be some spilling out.

It made her only more fond of the rather ridiculous Mythozoologist.

They couldn't quite get _all_ the gold in before Imhotep came within Melody's range, but they at least secured every scrap of papyrus and scroll in the place and had it slated in a special section of the library all it's own. She would have time to sort through it to find what was safe to share with the mundanes and which ones she would barter over with the magical Egyptologists to be shared with the rest of the world later.

Once they were certain Imhotep would be distracted (and got rid of his minions), Newt and Melody moved doubletime in removing gold from the place.

Much to his dismay, Newt realized they would have to leave some of it inside the ocean feature of the case...fortunately gold was one of the rare metals that did not rust in salt water. The few creatures in that area inspected the treasure briefly before ignoring it.

Melody _felt_ when someone managed to summon Anubis long enough to deal with Imhotep. Fortunately they had more or less removed all the good stuff, leaving only the most bulky and minor pieces behind. There was no way in hell she was taking the statues...they were far too bulky and hard to sell off to bother with. And they had taken more than enough coins that a few batches of the stuff could be reasonably left behind.

Stealing everything was not worth their lives, and she had little doubt that the scarabs (Newt had taken one look at the things and promptly deemed them self-sufficient enough that he wanted _nothing_ to do with them) would swarm the treasure chamber once the place was closed off.

Melody guided Newt out of the case, where he promptly found and charmed a few camels over to his side.

Melody snuck into the death chamber, and promptly swiped the Book of the Living when everyone was distracted, leaving a copy no one would detect in it's place. It had all the same spells, but it held none of the same powers as the actual thing such as control over the dead. At most one could summon Anubis.

The Book of the Dead was trickier, but she managed to make a fake that held it's "charge" enough to summon Imhotep _one_ last time (the curse that made him go after certain people was attached to the chest with the sacred jars) and one normal ressurection.

She knew from her history that Imhotep appeared one last time after he was put down, and that her great-grandmother Evelyn required the resurrection spell in order to fully reconnect with her past life as Nefertiti.

Of course she fully planned to insure that she would be on hand with the actual book to insure it took, but other than that she was washing her hands of the matter.

Melody watched bemused as her great-grandparents left on their own camels.

"How long do you think it'll take them to realize that Beni inadvertantly paid for both their wedding and their honeymoon?"

"Not very," said Newt amused.

"I've had enough of Egypt for a while," said Melody.

"Agreed," said Newt.

He had quite enough of mummies and curses, thank you.


	10. Chapter 10

In retrospect, the fact they ran into Charlus Potter soon after the mess with Imhotep (Melody was heartily glad to have avoided that particular menance) shouldn't have surprised them as much.

The fact that he had Theseus with them, however, did throw them for a loop.

Melody almost wanted to wilt when she realized he knew exactly who she was. Or at least what family she belong to.

"So... you're the mystery Potter that I've been chasing this entire time. How did you give us the slip in China?"

"Practice," she deadpanned. "That and zero issue with a few gray spells to insure the mundanes didn't know we entered the country illegally."

Theseus was giving her a look that made her want to run far, far away. It was bad enough being judged by the sheep in her own time... having Newt's older brother give her that sort of look made her question whether it was worth not running the second she spotted them.

Newt, however, took _one_ look at the way Theseus was eyeing Melody before he started openly glaring at his older brother.

"Theseus, before you start in on Melody would you do me one thing?"

"What?" he asked.

"Run a basic diagnostic charm on her, one that details the past fifteen years," he said flatly.

"Why would that matter?"

"Just humor me," said Newt.

"Newt, what are you..." started Melody, before she stiffened when Theseus used a charm she was all too familiar with.

The scroll Theseus used to detail the results quickly began to fill up. His eyebrows went up at the first foot, and his jaw dropped when he realized the scroll almost wasn't _long_ enough for everything it was picking up. He wasn't the only one shocked.

However his eyes fell on one particular diagnosis, as he looked at her hard.

"You're an Obscurial?"

Melody didn't bother hiding her reaction. She hid behind Newt.

"If you start treating me like a bloody werewolf over something I had no control over, I'll start showing you what a very bad idea it is to piss off a Black," she snapped.

Charlus looked at her intently. His eyes went up a bit further from the part Theseus had paid attention to, before his eyes shot up.

"Time displacement?"

"Some idiot hit me with an unknown spell when my time turner was mid-spin. As a result I was slung several decades into the past... I blame Potter Luck," she replied.

"Why were you using a time turner?" asked Charlus curiously.

She gave him an incredulous look.

"Can you think of a _better_ undetectable escape route? A single turn of the hourglass and you have a damn near foolproof way of getting out of a bad situation...after all it's rather hard to curse someone when you don't know _when_ they disappeared to and it's rather hard to cause a paradox that way. After all, if you had _known_ you were going to be in that situation an hour ago, why would you have been in that area in the first place?"

Dead silence.

Theseus went from suspicious to thoughtful. Charlus was looking rather impressed himself.

"That sounds like a much more practical use for time turners in the field than simply using them to catch up on overdue paperwork," admitted Charlus.

"And a reason to study them more in depth," agreed Theseus. "Which makes me wonder why no one has tried it before."

"You're wizards. You find the first thing that works and then don't bother to explore it in depth unless you're a Ravenclaw trying to write a new thesis on the subject. Even then, if it proves too useful the politicians will find a way to bury it so that it doesn't disrupt the status quo too much," deadpanned Melody. "How else can you explain why the Ministry in general is completely useless unless you bribe far too many people?"

"...She has a point," said Charlus with a grimace. That_ did_ sound exactly how things worked in the Ministry. "Though that doesn't explain why you never tried to contact the rest of the family."

"I'm not just a Potter...my grandmother was a Black and paranoia runs blood deep. I had enough of British idiocy in my own time and I had no idea how the rest of the family would react to my existence. I was sleeping in some sacred ground in Africa when Newt found my animagus form and thought I was some rare species," said Melody dryly. "Otherwise I would have avoided the magical enclaves entirely for as long as possible."

"Really brother?"

"In my defense if you saw her animagus form you would have done the same. It's not exactly something a smart man would anger readily," replied Newt sheepishly.

"And don't get me started on the 'bloody purity' crap that's currently infecting Europe. The second the nobs find out I'm a half-blood, they'll turn their nose up at me," said Melody in disgust.

"I wish I could dispute that, but considering you openly admit to having Black in your ancestry..." said Charlus with a grimace.

"Besides...in my time I was the _only_ Potter left. I have absolutely no idea where the family is located in England since I was told that the manor was destroyed," she finished. "And I only know of the location of the London townhouse that belongs to the Blacks and I have no desire to step a single foot in Grimmauld place if I can positively help it."

"Was it Grindlewald?" asked Theseus, seeing as Charlus was too rattled by that to ask himself.

"Grindlewald? He was a headache, but he didn't have the tendency to wipe out families down to the last _child_ if they didn't agree with his view on how things should be or even if they refused to join his side. No, the near destruction of the family is something I fully blame on Albus bloody Dumbledore and the fact he hates leaving his precious ivory tower to deal with threats unless he has no other choice," spat Melody. "And don't give me that look Newt. I know you trust him, but after that tosser went and beat Grindlewald in a _duel_ everyone started treating him like the second coming of Merlin and he actually believed he was all knowing to the point he wouldn't even try to find alternative solutions or ask advice from others with more experience than him in a certain field."

"Are you telling me I end up dying because of that idiot's incompetence?" growled Charlus.

"Ah, no. You and your wife die from Dragonpox from what I recall. Your son was quite devastated," said Melody.

"...My son?"

Melody had a wicked, evil grin on her face that had Newt wanting to groan. However Theseus recognized it immediately. It was the same one Charlus had on his face when he was preparing to execute a prank or two.

"Perhaps I should properly introduce myself. My full name is Reed Cerridwen Potter-Black, though you can call me Melody Peverell," she said impishly. Then the gleam got worse. "Or in the words of younger, more fit generation... Hi grandpa!"

Charlus stared at her, before the last bit filtered through his head. He began sputtering.

"Grandpa?!"

"Reed, daughter of James Charlus Potter and Lily Potter nee Evans, son of Charlus Potter and Dorea Potter nee Black," said Melody with far too much glee.

Charlus looked ready to faint.

"Just think, if we went back to England you would have to introduce your _granddaughter_ to the rest of the family and deal with being called old by your peers because the rest of them only have children that aren't even ready for Hogwarts yet," she said with entirely too much cheer.

Newt and Theseus looked very much like they wanted to laugh at the expression on Charlus' face.

Charlus mock glared at her.

"You were a Slytherin weren't you?"

"Gryffindor, though the hat very nearly put me in Slytherin. If it wasn't for the fact I would have had to deal with the sycophant known as Malfoy I might have considered it. I would prefer not to deal with a Frenchman who was too pathetic for even the French to stand," she said snootily.

Charlus snorted at that comment.

"Definitely a Potter."

"Newt... can I have a word with you?" asked Theseus.

Newt followed his older brother to the side, and ignored the privacy charm the man cast.

"How serious are you about her?"

"I intend to marry her, if possible. She's nothing like Leta," said Newt.

"Are you sure?"

"Melody needs me, Theseus. She's been hurting for so long that she expects it to happen. It took me months before she was willing to come out of her animagus form and talk properly," said Newt quietly. "More than that, I believe she was deliberately conditioned to sacrifice herself against dark wizards regardless of the cost to herself."

"Are you sure about that Newt? That's a serious accusation to make."

Newt looked his brother dead in the eye.

"I'm completely and utterly serious. She showed me via pensieve _exactly_ what her Hogwarts years are like and it's clear for even someone like me to see. Someone deliberately conditioned her to sacrifice herself for 'the greater good'. Her mundane relatives were absolutely horrid and treated her worse than a house elf growing up... I believe they are the cause for why her magical core destabilized enough to become an Obscurial. How she managed to stabilize long enough to complete her magical education is a mystery," said Newt flatly.

Theseus looked his brother in the eye, and he saw something in them that made him believe his brother's words.

"Mother is going to have a field day about this, you understand."

Newt had a wicked gleam on his face.

"When we decide to return to England so I can publish my book, the first stop we'll make is to visit Mother."

"What do you have planned?" asked Theseus suspiciously.

"Just try not to hex her to the point she takes you seriously as a threat when we arrive brother," said Newt cheerfully. Melody's impish nature was slightly infectious. He was already anticipating the chaos that would be created when they found out she was a dragon animagus.

Now deeply suspicious, Theseus turned to where Charlus was talking to his future granddaughter. A thought that made him smirk, because there was no way in hell he was letting that idiot live _this_ down.

* * *

"That was... exhausting."

Newt was trying hard not to laugh himself.

"Did you _see_ the looks on their faces when we asked if they could put some of the excess treasure we took from the ruins in a new vault under your name?" said Newt.

Melody smirked wickedly. Even after learning her true name was Reed, she still preferred to answer to Melody Peverell. Though she did agree to change it to Melody Potter once Charlus explained who she was and how she ended up in this particular time the moment they returned to England. They would have some time before Newt's book could be published as that took at least a month or two for it to be accepted by the Ministry (even with bribes) and the ICW.

Though the two wizards had a sneaking suspicion that the time-displaced witch would soon have a new surname by the time they reached England, if the way Newt was looking at her was any indication.

Theseus had to warn Newt how their mother would react if he eloped without her at at least being able to meet his prospective bride _once_. Particularly after how badly he had taken the breaking of his engagement to Leta Lestrange.

Theseus was rather pleased when Newt openly admitted he had no idea where he put the lone photograph he had of Leta after he had reconfigured his case. It was likely buried someplace among the knicknacks and his younger brother was disinclined to find where he had put it.

Though Newt would openly admit, seeing his brother and Charlus' expressions when he took them inside his case (they had sworn on wandpoint never to mention what creatures were inside...Theseus nearly had a fit seeing the nundu) and he showed them the cave with the rather large amount of treasure they had basically thrown into the 'ocean' since they couldn't find a better place for it was absolutely hilarious.

Charlus had openly sputtered and Theseus had almost fainted at the sight of all that gold. Especially when Melody cheekily asked if they wanted to keep some, because they 'might have gone overboard in robbing the place' in her words.

That was the point where Newt broke down and about bust a rib from laughing.

Newt was still snickering in a less than manly manner. Melody was openly cackling at random.

"So... Sudan?" asked Melody, once they were able to get their snickering under control.

Newt nodded, his face flush from laughter.

Once they were back in one of the port towns, Melody began stocking a large amount of meat and some local spices. She also went on a minor shopping spree for clothes. By this point Newt had given her an entire closet dedicated to the things she picked up during their travels and would happily claim ignorance to the contents.

Half the time she would be wearing jeans and a shirt she didn't mind getting dirty in the case anyway. She only wore her new wardrobe outside of it.

Newt would happily admit to admiring Melody's figure whenever the showcased the things she bought in the bazaar and was rather eager to discover what she was hiding under it. Most of her new clothes were the sort that would hug her figure and show her curves rather than obscure them like the Hogwart's robes tended to.

They had no idea that they were going to find something that would bring Melody's mothering instincts to full force, or that they would soon gain a new addition to their already growing family.

And they weren't even married yet.


	11. Chapter 11

Melody only had to hear about a violent black mist from the pits of hell attacking any who came close to a certain area, and how a 'demon' had apparently possessed a young girl before a dark and dangerous gleam came onto her features. Worse, she was not the only one to hear about the child.

She had absolutely no doubt the little girl was an Obscurial. The tribes this far out were almost all purely non-magical, so the existence of a first generation witch could only end badly.

Melody's scowl upon seeing Grimewald's minions in the area made Newt's defenses raise.

"What do you want to do?"

"Dead or alive, they are not going near that child. I happen to know _why_ Grimewald wants to get his hands on an Obscurial and as much as I despise Dumbledore's passive attitude towards war, I will not let him abuse a magical child who just needs someone to be there and show them that magic isn't something to be feared or hated."

Newt looked at her confused.

"What does Professor Dumbledore have to do with this?"

"Do you know what happened to his younger sister, Ariana?"

Newt shook his head. He had no idea that his favorite professor even _had_ a younger sister.

"His father went to prison for attacking the muggle children who harassed Ariana so much that she became an Obscurial. Dumbledore and his brother Aberworth were too caught up in their teenage melodrama to realize the danger, and it was during a lover's spat with Grindelwald that Ariana was killed. The entire thing devastated Dumbledore to the point that if he were confronted by an Obscurial he would freeze up for more than enough time that Grindelwald would be able to kill him with ease," said Melody grimly. "The thing about Obscurials is that they aren't monsters. They are just children who are terrified about a power that has singled them out from the mundanes that need someone to show them how wonderful magic can be."

Newt knew without being told that if they were able to get to the child in time to save her from being captured by Grindelwald's men, that Melody fully intended to adopt her. And he had absolutely no problem with that.

His mother would likely be thrilled having grandchildren to spoil long before Melody had a chance to get pregnant. Besides, who knew how to help an abused magical child heal from such a condition than someone who had managed to recover from it themselves?

What happens next is a blur, but the end result is that the dark lord is down a full team of wizards and one witch. Newt would honestly be surprised if they survived their encounter with Melody on a protective warpath.

The silvery mist that she creates with her own magic floats to the small little shack that holds the terrified little girl with magic.

"Why silver?" he asked, watching Melody try to coax the little one into trusting her.

"I think it's because the patronus is silver. I once had the chance to compare the two, and the shade is _exactly_ the same. A patronus is an emotion-based _protective_ magic, whereas an Obscurus is an emotion-based _attack_ magic. An Obscurus is formed out of fear and a desire to make the pain stop, hence why it comes out as a black mist."

"Whereas a patronus draws upon positive emotions and a desire to protect one's self from creatures that deliberately draw such emotions out in order to debilitate it's victims and steal their souls," said Newt in realization. "You know you might be able to publish a medical thesis on the subject if you were able to word it right. At the very least it would make a compelling paper on emotion-based magic and how it effects developing magical cores in children."

She shook her head.

"Not until I can prove the concept is sound, which would take more than just _one_ test subject. Besides, it would mean putting an abused child under far too much scrutiny and would almost certainly cause the treatment to take several steps back in favor of making myself look better."

Newt could understand that point. The fortunate fact was that Obscurials were _extremely_ rare in this day and age thanks to the Statute of Secrecy. Most magical children were identified early enough to discreetly relocate them if possible...unless they were in very rural areas such as this one.

Seeing silver and pitch black mingle under the stars was something of a thing of beauty, even if the reasons why it was necessary were entirely too tragic.

And when Newt saw that little girl with terrified brown eyes, clutching Melody's hand tightly for fear of being separated from someone who understood the pain she went through, it made his heart break.

* * *

Newt wisely kept his distance from the girl Melody kept calling her "little angel" in the girl's native tongue. The girl had been through such trauma that she had forgotten what her original name was, as the villagers and her own parents called her a demon the moment her magic began to turn on them.

Being given a clean break could only help her. The only problem was that Melody had no skill when it came to young magical children, much less how to handle any health issues that came up.

She could give the little girl all the love and support she could possibly want, and had excellent mothering skills...but that wouldn't help in the least if the child had any lingering health issues that could crop up down the road.

To that end, Newt decided to call in a favor owed to him.

Angel Peverell was a malnourished, underweight nine year old with a highly fluctuating core. Aside from a few parasites and other issues that would haunt her if left untreated, she was relatively healthy.

Newt would have laughed at the expression his old friend had upon encountering the mother dragon (and he meant that literally) that was Melody who was far more versed in modern mundane medicine than Newt ever cared to be outside of the veterinarian books Melody had seen him devouring to better care for his creatures. She asked several rather pointed questions and had his old friend quite flustered before he decided that he liked her for at least taking a genuine interest in her soon-to-be adopted daughter's health.

Though he _did_ laugh at the bewildered and gobsmacked expression the healer had on his face when, after joking naming his price Melody presented him with enough galleons to keep his small clinic going for years. And without hearing a word about a 'discount', due to his friendship with Newt.

Newt could tell the move had created a potential life-long friendship since Melody cared more about her daughter than she ever did about gold and riches.

The first magical creature that they introduced Angel to was, amusingly enough, Melody's owl Hedwig. The snowy owl, who firmly stayed in the case as she _despised_ the arid weather they were currently in, took one look at Angel and with an imperious hoot promptly began treating the girl like a chick that needed extra attention.

Come to think of it, she treated Melody the same way.

Within two weeks of rescuing Angel, Melody introduced the girl to therapy dolls, in order to work her up to a creature that would act as a 'therapy animal'. One who would belong to Angel and give her emotional support in the event Newt or Melody were unavailable.

Newt had no idea what a 'moogle' was, or why Melody insisted that she planned to 'corrupt' Angel before she had a chance to start Hogwarts. All he knew was that involved some sort of game called 'Final Fantasy' and that she wanted to ease the girl into the idea of magic before she ever got a chance to hold a wand.

He would later regret that decision when Angel gave him a set of large puppy dog eyes and asked for something called a 'chocobo'.

Melody would laugh herself into hysterics at the expression Newt got when he finally looked into what she was teaching the child, only to come out bewildered and baffled that mundanes had come up with such a game or the various sequels that spawned from the original concept.

That, and for getting _him_ hooked on the series. He would not admit to pouting when he realized that he would not have the chance to play anything but the ones she had with her since computers were not even in their infancy at the moment.

He also blamed her for introducing him to _Pokémon_. He was not addicted to it, and he would deny any accusations wholeheartedly.

Did not stop the two females from giggling when Newt discreetly cursed out various Gym Leaders/Rivals/Elite Four when he thought they weren't listening.

* * *

Angel was safely tucked away for the night, with an alarm spell around her rooms to alert Melody if she woke up. Newt decided to take Melody out on a _proper_ date, and had something in his pocket that Theseus had helpfully sent him via Hedwig when Newt asked the owl if she would be so kind as to take his letter for him.

Hedwig had looked affronted that Newt even had to _ask_, since he was so close to her master. She made sure to slap Newt once with her wing before taking off.

The smug expression on the owl's feathered face reminded Newt too much of Melody. Clearly the familiar took after her master. Or vice-versa.

The look on Melody's face when Newt presented the ring which had belonged to his maternal grandmother made the entire exchange worth it.

Leta had favored the flashy rings when they discussed the idea before the engagement was permanently broken. Melody never even brought it up once, but Newt had observed the trinkets she had saved from their looting of Hamunaptra that had made it into her actual jewelry box, and noticed she favored the smaller, more intricately cut stones that shined with a special brilliance all their own in the least amount of light. And under_ proper_ lighting, the shine was truly breathtaking.

This particular ring was done in the style of a Celtic knot, with gems that had been deemed 'too flawed' or 'too small' by others to make it into the more flashy rings. His grandmother had been quite the practical soul, and had seen the charm in the smaller gems that his grandfather later put into her wedding ring.

Newt knew for a fact she would be tickled pink to meet Melody. She might not have many years left, but she still had some life left in her for at least five more. She definitely sounded amused when he politely requested her old engagement ring, since she had taken it off and never worn jewelry again after his grandfather's death.

"Newt?" said Melody, sounding horribly confused.

"I borrowed Hedwig a week ago... she is quite fast, as most owls take at least a few weeks with the trip I asked her to make," admitted Newt. "On an unrelated note, my grandmother will undoubtedly demand to meet the girl who has caught my interest to the point I would ask for her old ring."

Seeing her eyes widened and her breathing become rather shocked.

"Melody Peverell, would you do me the great honor of being mine?" he asked.

For a few seconds he thought she would say no...until he registered the rather thorough kiss.

"Did you ever think otherwise, you silly man?" she said, happy tears in her eyes.

Joy bloomed in his heart as he kissed her back.

The magic in the ring automatically resized it to fit her finger. He would have to find a proper wedding band to go along with the ring.

Melody curled into him, and kept glancing at the thin ring on her finger like she couldn't believe he had actually proposed. And if Newt held her rather possessively and was prone to be a little more affectionate than normal, well, who was going to judge? The only ones who lived in the case were Melody, Newt and now little Angel.

The young girl was swiftly growing used to magical creatures and had taken to emulating Melody like a little duckling, which Newt found absolutely adorable and took as many pictures as he could to document it.

* * *

_Some time later..._

It should have come as a surprise to many, but in reality Newt found it more amusing than anything, that the moment Melody introduces Angel to her animagus form it took the swift actions of Newt to keep the little girl from clambering over the dragoness that was her mother. As it was, the second the transformation finished, Angel was eagerly examining the majestic creature that Melody cheerfully called "Maleficent".

Seeing his fiancee nuzzle their daughter while in dragon form, and patiently allowing the girl to crawl all over her and gently catching the child when she slipped on the scales was something Newt would treasure. He was already sketching it for his own private collection.

Angel was rather excited for her first flight dragonback. Newt held the girl carefully as Melody took a few tame dives and stunts, so as not to alarm the girl unnecessarily. There was no telling if Angel was a thrill-seeker like her...though if the cries of 'faster' were any indication Newt would bet all the gold the took from Hamunaptra that the little girl would endeavor to give him gray hairs by the time she graduated Hogwarts regardless.

Newt happily fell asleep against Melody's dragon form, feeling rather satisfied and pleased when Angel hesitantly cuddled against his side, the both of them covered by Melody's dragon wings to provide a comfortable degree of warmth and protection.

"Newt... I only took a nap with Angel for _two_ hours. How in the name of Morgana and Maeve did you find a malnourished _thunderbird_ in that time?" asked Melody with fond exasperation.

Newt would not admit out loud in their hearing how adorable it was to see Angel mirror her mother's exasperated expression. It was too cute for words!

"In my defense, I was left unsupervised."

Melody had a bemused expression on her face.

"As someone who has been through one too many misadventures and other mishaps, I can state with absolute certainty that particular excuse has never actually worked."

Newt didn't hide his amused laugh at that.

"I suppose you would be the expert on such things," he admitted amused.

"About how much work is going to be needed before we can release him back to the Arizona wilds?" asked Melody seriously.

"I believe we can get him back to acceptable health within a month or two."

"So a month of travel to a decent port, and another to travel to America," mused Melody. "Besides, I've been wanting to visit for some time."

There was also the small matter of 'collecting' a certain someone who had been almost forgotten in the annuls of history save for acting as a tragic reminder of why magical children needed to be identified early and removed from abusive situations.

Melody had looked into Obscurials soon after learning what they were. It was because of that, and a little detective work on an undamaged copy of the Black Family registry (which was made to keep track of the bloodline regardless of blood status and whether or not they were legitimate or not...and also firmly out of Walburga's ability to 'alter'), that Melody knew something no one else did on the only _confirmed_ case of an Obscurial in the past two hundred years that was accepted by the international community.

Credence Barebone's true name was Credence _Black_, son of Pollux Black and older half-brother to Cygnus Black, father of Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa.

She had done some digging into the so-called Second Salemers, and had come to the conclusion Pollux had gotten Mary Lou pregnant then left her knocked up with no support...but not before the woman in question had picked up on a second hidden society revolving around magic.

Considering the behavior people had to unwed mothers, particularly in the years leading up the to World Wars, there was no way the fact she could not produce proof Credence's father would go over any way _but_ badly. Add into the fact he would have inherited magic from his father's side of the family, and it was unsurprising Mary Lou had turned her misplaced ire at her situation to her poor son.

Melody intended to see that particular oversight of the American MACUSA (she knew for a _fact_ Tina did try to save Credence from his abusive mother and had been stopped by her idiot superiors) and give the people who demoted Tina a good, long lambasting for failing to recognize Mary Lou had previous exposure to magic and had absolutely no reason _not_ to hate them because of what Pollux did to her.

Really, how did those idiots not realize she had found out about magic and their society indirectly? The old posters that had been recorded in the history books even showed the image of a _wand_ being snapped! If that wasn't a big clue to a breach in the Statute, nothing was!


	12. Chapter 12

Due to some rather ridiculous idiocy that Melody had almost forgotten about was prevelent in this time period, they were forced to keep Angel inside the case for the entire boat ride. She had honestly forgotten that in this time period, segregation due to the color of one's skin was prevelant. _Especially_ in America, to her disgust.

She had been raised in a time when the idea of same-gender couples was slowly but surely gaining acceptance among the public. The idea of racism had never been an issue, which was rather surprising considering how bigoted her aunt and uncle were towards anyone "different".

(Though to be fair her aunt was surprisingly tolerant towards lesbians and men with boyfriends, whereas her uncle couldn't stand them. The idea of mocking someone over skin-tone was considered ridiculous among the Surrey Socialites, oddly enough. Religion, on the other hand, was another kettle of fish.)

Melody spent quite a bit of time teaching Angel how to read and speak English, and a bit more speaking with the 'colored' folk, much to their surprise.

The few fools who attempted to 'correct' Melody's open-minded nature swiftly learned not to try anything when confronted with an icy stare down with all the force of an irritated dragon. And if they attempted to 'correct' the folk she was happily sharing recipes, stories and general gossip with, then they found themselves trapped in their room for hours, unable to escape.

It was obvious to anyone with half a brain Melody was behind it, but they couldn't prove it and Newt turned a deaf ear to any complaints on the matter. After about a week of this, those who would protest her behavior learned to keep their opinions to themselves after some truly nasty bouts of diarrhea and other unpleasantness.

The expression in Melody's eyes said it all... that she was being _nice_ and not discreetly disposing of their bodies over the side of the boat when no one was looking. With the alarming number of sharks following them, odds were they would never be saved in time.

It was with considerable relief for many people on the ship when they reached New York. Mostly for the bigots who didn't even understand how idiotic their beliefs were.

Newt was just relieved Melody kept her mouth shut while they went through immigration. And that they had sent their papers for wand registration in advance via Hedwig. Not that Melody _needed_ her wand much anymore, but Newt really didn't want to start an international incident when he was about to publish his book at long last.

She at least had the decency to warn him that she intended to adopt another child before they left the country and that there would likely be quite a few headaches involved before they left.

The only thing she would say was that it was a matter of family honor and reclaiming someone who shouldn't have been left abandoned in the first place...and that Angel would likely have a new big brother in their 'special' lessons by the end of it.

Newt did not have to read between the lines to understand that Melody meant another Obscurial.

* * *

_Melody POV_

In retrospect, perhaps she shouldn't have drawn Mary Lou's attention to her. On the plus side, this meant she had a chance to speak to the woman regarding Credence.

He reminded Melody entirely too much of herself when she first started Hogwarts, especially when Dumbledore refused to let her stay anywhere _but_ her 'relatives' home for the summer holidays.

"Excuse me Madam, but is there any particular reason you chose the Salem Witch Trials?" Melody inquired.

Newt was currently chasing after the niffler he had in his case... one that had formed a bond of mischief with Angel once she got over the shock of meeting him...so was unable to stop her from creating all sorts of chaos.

Either way her fiancee had a feeling of foreboding go down his spine that he _knew_ meant Melody was up to her usual tricks again.

Seeing the gleam in Mary Lou Barebone's eyes, Melody nipped her fanaticism in the bud rather brutally.

"Because as I recall from the history books, the entire thing was caused by mass hysteria over a couple of girls caught eating some 'funny mushrooms' and acting strangely coupled with the stringent Puritan belief system that was prevelent in the time period. Not to mention how rural Salem was at the time... there were many people accused of 'witchcraft' by their neighbors who were simply acting out of spite or jealously. There was no actual _proof_ of supernatural powers or abilities in the least, and when the governor learned of what was going on he took over the trials and immediately threw out all the remaining cases, thus ending the so-called 'witch hunt'," said Melody matter of fact.

Mary Lou looked at her with some irritation. The sad fact was that she couldn't even tell the girl off for calling her a liar... she was merely stating fact and pointing out flaws in her speech in a way that those listening could understand and follow.

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"You're entitled to your beliefs, madam. However I find it ironic that you chose to model yourself after people who fell prey to mass hysteria and misinformation, particularly since you just asked my fiancee if he was a 'seeker of truth' in your words," Melody replied calmly. "As the saying goes, those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

Mary Lou glared at her, and Credence squirmed uncomfortably by her side. Unfortunately even she could see that there was no way to gain further support from the crowd after the red head's comment about their name.

So it was little surprise that Mary Lou was very displeased seeing that same woman approach her after the demonstration broke up.

"Haven't you done enough damage?" she demanded, glaring at her.

"Why wands? People would normally associate that image with fairy godmothers, not witches," asked Melody.

Mary Lou sneered.

"The foul abominations use wands to cast their craft. I've seen it myself."

Mary Lou suddenly found herself pinned by a pair of vibrant green eyes.

"Does the name Pollux mean anything to you?" she asked flatly.

Mary Lou hissed at her openly.

"You're one of them!"

"And I know the real reason you despise magicals. It's because of your son isn't it?" said Melody evenly. "What if I could tell you that I could provide funding for the children you care for and take the reminder of what he did to you off your hands?"

Mary Lou's eyes were cold.

"What's in it for you?"

"I detest men like Pollux who would claim they have superior breeding, but don't have the common decency to own up to their own actions. The fact he left you alone and pregnant without providing even a single bent coin to his son's care is something I plan to take him to task about. Family cares for it's own," said Melody flatly.

Something seemed to pass between the two women.

"What will you do to him?" asked Mary Lou.

"Did you know if you kick a man in the balls hard enough, there's a strong chance they will break and his ability to have children will be hampered or destroyed completely?" deadpanned Melody. "If you want any particular punishments for his stunts, I would be more than happy to make them reality and if you wish, share pictures of what happens when you don't take responsibility for your actions. Children should be cherished, not treated as burdens."

Seeing the dark gleam in the older woman's eyes, Melody knew she had earned some measure of respect for that comment.

Melody followed Mary Lou back to the house she had bought with her limited funds to act as her headquarters for the Second Salemers.

"Credence!" barked Mary Lou.

Her son came down obediently, looking at Melody in open confusion.

Melody looked him in the eye and held out her hand.

"Hello Credence. My name is Melody Peverell and I am your cousin on your father's side of the family. I'm here to offer you the chance to come stay with me and ease some of the burden off your poor mother at having another mouth to feed," she said politely.

Credence flinched at the mention of his father, before he registered the rest of what she said.

"Mother?"

"It's up to you," she said dismissively.

She always got extra angry whenever his father was brought up.

"Credence, my fiancee and I are going to be in town for a few days. You don't have to make a decision right away, but I promise that even if you wish to stay here that I will make up for your birth father's foolishness in leaving your mother entirely without support," said Melody soothingly, like she would one of the skittish animals in Newt's case. "Would you like some time to think things over?"

Credence nodded slowly.

"Is there any place in particular you would like to meet up with me to talk?" she asked.

She arranged a meeting the next afternoon at an easily located statue. She knew better than to pressure Credence into making a decision right away. He might resent her for it later, and he would need time to think things over.

Magic only knew she had been beyond unhappy at that age at having those older and supposedly _wiser_ than her making all the decisions for her and never once asking for her input on the matter. Credence reminded her strongly of herself when she was fifteen, so she would like to make up for the forceful tactics she had been put through by at least giving him the ability to chose for himself.

Only to find out Newt had apparently managed to anger his once-future wife in the original timeline because the case had accidentally been switched for a mundane's. And that some of the creatures had used it as a chance to escape.

Seeing the expression on Queenie's face when she looked right at the blond and cheerfully mentioned in her mind that she "didn't mind sharing" while looking at her twin sister Tina was _hilarious._ Especially when Queenie choked on her hot cocoa a little bit.

A pity she didn't mention it out loud, because she would have paid good money to see the look on _Newt's_ face if he heard that.

Credence was waiting by the water feature rather nervously. His mother had been in a foul mood the entire night, but much to his relief hadn't taken it out on him for once.

So when he saw Melody, he almost felt something close to relief.

"Hello Credence. How are you feeling?"

"Were you serious? About taking me away from mother?" he asked quietly, looking around with a nervous expression as if his mother was waiting to pounce.

Sympathy filled her features, along with a distinct expression of empathy.

"Credence, do you know the _real_ reason your mother hates magic and anyone who uses it?"

Credence shook his head. He never thought to ask, and merely accepted his mother hated it for reasons he never understood.

"You are a member of the Ancient and Noble House of Black, which resides in England through your father. I can only assume he came to America for some business and ran into your mother. While he was smart enough not to use magic around her and break the international agreement to keep it a secret from those born without it, that didn't stop your mother from picking up certain things about magicals...such as the fact that they use wands to cast spells. As a result she resents magicals because your father got her pregnant and left her all alone to raise you in a time where unwed mothers were treated poorly," explained Melody calmly, and to be honest rather bluntly. "To be honest if she had ever _lived_ in Salem during the infamous witch trials, she likely would have been accused of witch craft herself simply because she was a woman who had a son out of wedlock. They were quite strict about that in that time period."

Credence bristles at that, but at the same time he is oddly relieved. Melody isn't giving him a prettied up lie. She is giving him the blunt truth in a way he could understand and hopefully learn to accept.

"Does my father..." he started, but choked up a bit. "Does he know or care that I exist?"

"I sincerely doubt it," she replied honestly. "The house of Black prides itself on it's 'purity', and a child born not only out of wedlock, but also to someone without magic would be something that would cause him to deny your heritage without hesitation. I know for a fact he has a legitimate son with his wife and from what I recall Pollux was quite the advocate of 'blood purity' and that only those from established magical bloodlines to marry into the family."

Credence's face said volumes.

"Why did you come here then?" he asked, his heart broken at being told the blunt truth.

"Because I find that sort of thinking to be complete codswallop," she replied. "And because I find it ridiculous to treat a child as a burden simply because of the circumstances to their birth. Besides... as a half-blood myself, I hardly have any reason to treat you like an unwanted addition to the family. I was honest about giving you a place where you can finally belong."

Credence blinked.

"My mother was born to a family without magic...the first in her family. Her sister was horribly jealous of the fact that her younger sibling was gifted and so much more popular than her. So when I was dumped on her doorstep a scant handful of hours after my parents were murdered, she took it poorly," said Melody. "For ten years, she made it abundantly clear I was a freak and an unwanted member of their family, until someone introduced me to the world my parents had known."

Credence listened with rapt attention, sensing her honesty.

"I am offering you a chance to prove that the circumstances of your birth are not what defines you. To prove those who think that the 'purity' of one's bloodline is all that makes a wizard. And if you just _happen_ to give that fool Pollux a piece of your mind for leaving your poor mother all alone to raise you without any support... well you'll find me turning a deaf ear to any pleas for mercy," said Melody. "Besides, there's an easy way to test if you have magic or not."

Seeing his hopeful and somewhat eager expression, Melody grinned. She handed him a wand.

"Give it a wave," she said smiling. "Or you could do a 'swish and flick'."

Credence eyed the stick in his hand with trepidation...but looked at her for an example of what she meant. She had a normal stick in her hands and made a 'swish and flick' motion needed for the levitation spell.

He followed her movements in an unsure and rather sloppy manner...but he jumped all the same when it caused a jet of red light to fly out the end of the wand and hit a nearby tree. Fortunately all it did was break off a branch and she was quick to grab the wand before it landed on the ground.

Credence looked at it as if it were a snake.

"Now if you didn't have any magic, nothing would have happened. I can show you how to control it," she said cheerfully.

"Mr. Graves said the same thing," said Credence without thinking. "He wants me to find a child with magic."

"How old is this Mr. Graves?" asked Melody.

"He's at least as old as mother."

Melody did not look happy hearing that.

"I find it _highly_ suspicious this Mr. Graves would be looking into a magical child in your mother's care when I know for a fact that someone from the magical police department was _demoted_ for trying to remove you from that house. And since we've just proven you _do_ have magic, it means that she was in the right to do so," said Melody.

Credence blinked.

"There are magical police?"

"As well as hospitals, schools...my fiancee happens to be writing a book to help with the conservation of magical creatures of all shapes and sizes. Creatures you've always dismissed as fantasy are often very much real, just hidden. I know for a fact unicorns, dragons, and mermaids exist," said Melody. "We can show you an entire world of fantastic creatures and magic, just waiting to be explored. All you need to do is to take the leap of faith and see it for yourself."

Seeing Credence looked unsure, Melody backed off a little.

"As I said before, we're going to be here a few days. I want this to be _your_ decision, rather than be told what to do by the adults around you. I would understand your reluctance to be parted from your mother... while she might not be perfect, she is still the woman who raised you," said Melody. "I know all too well what it's like to be told what to do and never even given a choice by the people around me. I would like to offer you a chance to make the decision on what your future might hold one that you made yourself."

Melody at least made sure Credence had a proper meal in his stomach before he returned to his mother. He had a lot to think about, after all.


	13. Chapter 13

Credence looked at Mr. Graves with trepidation. Why hadn't the man ever told him he had magic?

Ms. Peverell had been far more honest to him than Mr. Graves had ever been, and now that he thought properly about it, it was a little strange Mr. Graves always insisted on meeting like this.

He was able to at least keep Mr. Graves from knowing about his fluctating loyalties.

Ms. Peverell had laid out his options, and had given him a choice in what happened next. She honestly _cared_ about him and understood exactly what it was like to have the adults make all the decisions without any choice in the matter. She wasn't trying to force him into anything. She gave him the hard facts and allowed him a chance to think them over properly.

Looking at the amulet Mr. Graves had given him, and thinking of all the opportunities Ms. Peverell was offering him with no strings attached, Credence made his decision.

He had no idea that it would throw his own future into complete turmoil.

Credence went to find Ms. Peverell.

"Have you come to a decision?" she asked gently.

Credence nodded shyly. He was absolutely terrified, but the lure of learning how to use magic and being welcomed without question was something that was impossible to resist, to be part of a _real_ family. It was more than Mr. Graves had ever offered him.

"I... I want to learn about magic."

"You know your mother will never accept you after this," said Melody gently. "She has a rather valid reason for hating those who can use magic, however misguided it is."

Credence winced, but nodded slowly.

Melody gently pulled him into a hug. It felt safe in a way he had never experienced before.

"First we'll need to have the adoption papers filed...both in the mundane and the magical ministries. Fortunately humans are often open to the idea of bribes, so that shouldn't take very long to have it filed and processed. Then I am going to set your mother up with enough money that she'll never have to actually worry about working again," said Melody. "That way you'll at least know she's provided for."

Credence looked at her wide eyed. He timidly followed Melody without a word as she took him to some rather cheerless offices to have the paperwork filed.

* * *

_Several hours later..._

Newt stared at the familiar face, before he looked at Melody. He wasn't the only one.

"Credence?" said Tina in surprise.

"This is the boy you said you would be adopting into our little family when I mentioned coming to America?" asked Newt.

_That_ got Tina's full attention as she looked at Melody hard.

"Credence happens to be my cousin. There was no way I was going to let someone suffer another day with a group who's been trying to restart the witch hunts," said Melody.

Tina stared at Melody in shock.

"Credence has magic?" she repeated dumbly.

"He _is_ a half-blood, after all. Quite frankly I am rather furious that the MACUSA decided to demote you for doing your job and kept you from removing him from that house, considering you were trying to protect a member of an Ancient and Noble family," said Melody.

Tina looked like she was ready to hyperventilate.

"That being said the _second_ the adoption papers go through I am going to give your boss an earful for this massive oversight," said Melody. "I wouldn't be surprised if you managed to get your job back by the time I'm through. After all, it should have been fairly obvious Mary Lou Barebone has had contact with wizards before."

"What?" said Tina, staring at her.

"No Maj's, as you call them, are more inclined to think along the lines of hags when someone mentions the word witch, or a wizened old man with a staff if the word wizard is mentioned. _Not_ someone who uses a wand and shortened incantations to cast spells. If anything the only thing that would come to mind when someone mentions wands are fairy godmothers and the like," replied Melody. "Magic doesn't have to be seen or felt in order for someone to pick up on the fact it exists. I find it ridiculous the magical school here never picked up on the fact Credence had it."

She had a pretty good idea _why_ they never picked up on him, but she wasn't going to mention it. Not when Newt openly mentioned that their creatures were being blamed for attacks on innocent people.

If they figured out he was behind the attacks, she was going to pin the blame on MACUSA for not detecting the fact he was magically inclined sooner and that it was their own fault his magic was lashing out without anyone to show him how to channel it properly. That would likely shut them up rather nicely.

Newt looked at Credence with open sympathy.

"I take it Melody has been taking you with her, and hasn't bothered to give you any in-depth information on our society?"

Credence nodded slowly.

"I wanted to ease my poor cousin into it. As it is, I've spent the last three hours at the bank setting up an account for his mother to insure she's provided for since their living conditions are hardly healthy for her or the children she's been caring for. And I haven't had a chance to introduce him to Angel yet either."

"Angel?" repeated Tina. She was horribly confused.

"Our daughter," said Newt absently, causing Melody to beam at him for saying it without hesitation. "Melody's been rehabilitating her since we rescued her from a small shack in Sudan. The poor girl was isolated and treated like a demon because she was a first generation witch in a rural village."

"Why haven't I seen her yet then?" demanded Tina.

"Because America still segregates people depending on what their skin color is," deadpanned Melody. "And I absolutely refuse to submit a traumatized nine-year-old girl through that. Especially one who has yet to learn how to speak English and wouldn't understand why the adults around her are treating her horribly because her skin pigment is darker than theirs."

Tina wisely shut up, because that was a pretty good reason to hide the fact they had a kid in the case Scamander was carrying around.

"How did your new friend react to her?"

"Rather well, surprisingly," replied Newt. "Angel helped him to feed the moon calves, and he was more interested in the creatures to pay attention to her skin color. Though I may be donating some of the hoard to him once this is over."

Melody waved him off.

"I don't mind. The fact he's taking magic this well and is willing to help you return the creatures back to where they belong is good enough for me to agree to it."

* * *

Credence woke up to the softest bed he had ever been in. Last night had been rather surreal and he had almost thought he had imagined it. Then he smelled something absolutely _heavenly_ and followed his nose to the kitchens.

Ms. Peverell ("Call me Melody, please.") was making breakfast on the stove and flipping something on a pan. Nearby he saw a little girl about nine or so watching her with eager eyes. She wore a simple, if pretty dress that complimented her skin tone.

Credence slowly made his way to the table.

"Good morning Credence," said Melody gently. "Hope you like pancakes. Or I can do waffles if you want."

Breakfast was far more lively and entertaining than he had ever experienced. Melody introduced him to small magics, such as a spell to do the dishes. Credence had to blush and look away slightly when Newt came in and kissed her on the cheek.

He wasn't used to such displays of affection.

"So are you off to find where those scamps managed to escape?"

"Dougal is being particularly difficult. We're fortunate there haven't been any more 'mystery' attacks recently."

"I hate to break it to you Newt, but I think Dougal is babysitting. There's an Occamy missing," said Melody dryly.

Newt winced.

"I'm about to be called up in front of MACUSA because word has apparently reached them that several of my creatures escaped my care. Would you be willing to join me?" he asked hopefully.

He didn't particularly like this "Mr. Graves", and he would very much like to learn how the man found out about his creatures being loose. Tina had kept her mouth shut on the matter when Melody agreed to speak to her boss about the fact that she had been attempting to remove a _magical_ child from a caustic environment.

"I was planning to see if we could get Credence a wand later. Or at least introduce him to the room I filled with easily destroyed objects with," said Melody.

Melody had bought a rather large number of cheap vases and trinkets, and then inscribed self repairing runes on the lot of them. Newt had been baffled why, until she demonstrated _exactly_ what the room was for. He hadn't noticed until after the fact that the walls had been specially charmed to take a great deal of damage and to keep it all contained.

The room was designed entirely to allow an Obscurial to vent without doing any harm to others. A way to bleed off their excess energy as it were.

Seeing the trepidation in Credence's eyes, Melody met them and tried to keep her own expression calm.

Even if inwardly she was beyond furious that Credence feared his own powers that they were forced to lash out and become a malevolent force.

Newt left to deal with the creatures, while Melody took Credence and Angel to the 'time-out' room as she cheerfully called it.

"Angel, why don't you show Credence what this room is used for?"

Angel looked nervous, but trusted Melody.

Credence's eyes widened in recognition at the thick black mist that came from Angel's palm and destroyed several vases.

He turned to Melody in shock.

"You're not as alone as you think Credence," said Melody. She held out her own palm, and a fine silver mist flowed from it. "If you trust me, I can teach you how to control it."

"What is it?"

"It's what's known as an Obscurus. It's what happens when a magically-inclined child fears and rejects their magic to the point that it turns in on itself. A lot of magic is emotionally based... and as children we have 'growing pains' where our powers act out and misbehave. Children are far more emotional compared to adults, and magic behaves accordingly. However when they start to _fear_ their magic, it attempts to lash out at whatever is causing the distress... if left unattended it turns violent and becomes a black mist like you saw Angel release."

Credence was quiet.

"Yours was silver."

"That's because I was able to control it and learn how to harness it properly. I spent several years among those with similar powers and it taught me that I didn't_ need_ to be afraid of my magic. As a result, it became a lot less violent, though it's still emotionally-based," she patiently explained. "The reason I brought you into this room is so you have a safe place to vent your frustration, anger and pain. You can destroy the entire contents of the room and let the emotions bleed out."

"Wouldn't that cause a big mess?" he asked.

"For a time yes. But I've set this room to repair once it's been left alone for a while so it can be reused. Magic can repair simple things quite a number of times provided all the pieces remain intact," said Melody. "And this room was specifically designed and reinforced for people like us. Think of it as a place where you can lash out and scream your head off so that you can think clearly and rationally about whatever is bothering you later. I find things are a lot less frustrating once you've had a chance to vent and think things through without keeping it pent up."

Part of the reason she had been so bitchy her fifth year was because she never _had_ a place where she could vent her feelings without it being reported to several parties who would only make things worse and treated her like a child rather than someone at the end of their rope.

"How do I use it?" asked Credence.

"I want you to think of something that infuriates you. Something that would make you want to lash out violently...then direct it at anything that isn't living within the room," she instructed.

Credence didn't have to think very hard. For some reason he thought of the people who mocked his mother and her beliefs, all while treating her like a scarlet woman came to mind.

A thick black mist exploded from him, and Angel was quick to retreat to Melody who stood there calmly.

As instructed, Credence left the two females alone...but the room was completely and utterly destroyed within minutes.

He found himself panting in the midst of all the destruction he caused. He looked around him and his eyes widened.

"Do you feel better?" asked Melody calmly. There was no judgement in her eyes...just pure acceptance.

Credence almost flinched when Angel came up to him... but the hug she gave him was rather comforting, if slightly awkward. Clearly she could tell he was like her and needed someone to hug.

"A little," he admitted. He felt Melody's arms wrap around him, and the natural warmth made him feel a little better.

"We'll keep working on letting your emotions go until you only feel a dull rage instead of an intense one that causes you to lash out so easily," said Melody. "For Angel we needed to work on her fear of being hurt, but in your case it's clearly anger-based. Having that much rage pent up is _not_ healthy."

Seeing the look on his face, Melody chuckled lightly.

"Credence, if _anyone_ understands what it's like to be a teenager with a lot of repressed, pent up justifiable anger it would be me. The only difference is that no one was there to help me let it go and I was being judged by everyone and their grandmother about what they thought I should be. You at least, do not have that sort of headache hanging over your head like the Sword of Damocles."

"The what?" said Credence, not understanding the reference.

"There was once a legendary courtier by the name of Damocles who heartily praised the happiness of a king named Dionysius the first. To show him how precarious that happiness was, Dionysius seated him at a banquet and hung a sword over the man's head that was held up by a single hair. Needless to say it got the point across," said Melody with impish eyes.

Credence...had no way to respond to that.


	14. Chapter 14

Credence was not eager to face the full brunt of the Magical Congress of the United States of America. And Melody wished with all honesty that she would not have to bring him to their attention. His control wasn't nearly good enough and she was worried what would happen if he were to slip at the worst time.

The second those fools discovered what he was, they would turn on him. And she would be forced to reveal her dragon side to insure they did not harm him, which would only cause an international incident.

However the second she saw the man known as "Mr. Graves", every hackle she had raised in warning. Worse, she could _feel_ the connection she had to death setting off all the alarm bells in her soul.

It took her a few minutes to realize what was going on, but when it did it took everything in her power not to hex the bastard on the spot with the most unpleasant spells she had in her arsenal.

Considering she had literally holed herself up in the Black townhouse for three months in an attempt to escape Hermione and the others trying to subtly pressure her into "settling down" or worse, join the Aurors, she knew a _lot_ of unsavory and downright dark magic to use.

A good number of them made the Cruciatus seem _tame_ in comparison.

She knew she had heard the name 'Graves' before. It wasn't until she remembered some of the past history of Grindelwald and Obscurials that she made the connection.

Grindelwald had been hiding for a time in New York, attempting to track down an Obscurial he had Seen there. Only for his actions to set it off on one of the biggest near misses the Statute of Secrecy during his reign of terror. If not for Newt and his creatures, there could have been a disaster as muggles suddenly realized magic was still around, just hiding.

However much she wanted to blow his cover wide open, she refused to throw Credence into the middle of a magical pissing contest. She knew all too well how fragile a child's trust could be, especially an abused one recently removed from a horrible situation. If she convinced him to expose Grindelwald, then he would only assume she would use him for her own ends again later.

She would much rather expose her own status as Master of Death to a man notorious for his obsession with the Hallows than put Credence through that for even a second.

He would never see her full wrath coming until it was far too late to do anything about it.

Right now Melody was turning her full attention to the President of MACUSA, who was attempting to blame Newt for their own inability to realize what was going on.

Melody snorted derisively at the lot of them.

"Is there something that amuses you, Miss...?"

"Peverell. I find it rather _amusing_ that you lot are so quick to blame us after we've only _recently_ arrived in this country when this issue has been going on for months. I also find it rather disconcerting that the American colonies apparently care less about their magical _children_ than the English do," she replied back.

"Melody..." hissed Newt.

"On what grounds are you basing this accusation?" demanded Piquary.

"How about the fact I had to rescue my young cousin from his No Maj mother who has been displaying a certain...dislike... of magicals for some time now. Or the fact that you lot decided to demote the only person who realized there was a problem and tried to remove him from that woman's care only to be reprimanded."

"You can't possibly be talking about Ms. Goldstein," said Mr. Graves.

"Personally I'm rather appalled that you allowed Ms. Barebone to continue trying to stir up the other No Maj's with her Second Salemer group without realizing that she had previous exposure to magic. Or did _none_ of you question the fact that she _knew_ we use wands to cast magic and that the best way to make a large number of us helpless was to snap them in half?"

Dead silence. That was the only way to describe the chamber at the moment in Newt's opinion.

"What basis do you have that she is aware of us?" demanded Piquary, though you could tell she was rattled.

Melody openly rolled her eyes.

"When someone mentions wizards and witches, No Maj's are more inclined to believe wizened old men with staves or hags bent over potions with warts and black cats complete with long, overly complicated rituals...not ordinary people with sticks that cast spells with short incantation and a few flicks of the wrist," deadpanned Melody. "I've already confirmed with the goblins that her son is from an established magical line in England and I have already filed the forms as his new magical guardian through them. She was more than happy to hand him over once I made it clear I would compensate her for the grief she went through after her lover went and left her alone for England after she found out she was pregnant with absolute no support."

"What is the child's name?" asked Mr. Graves...though he could already see a number of plans crashing down around him.

"Credence Barebone, who's father happens to be Pollux Black, of the Ancient and Noble House of Black," replied Melody. "However it will take a few days for the paperwork to go through so he can legally change his surname."

She easily levitated a scroll complete with the Gringotts seal that held Credence's ancestry on it. It wasn't hard to enlarge it, showing the entire chamber that the child Tina Goldstein had been attempting to remove from his No Maj mother was actually a half-blood.

"To think the one woman who picked up on a magical child being abused was reprimanded and demoted for doing her job...and that your precious school never bothered to pick up a half-blood," said Melody coldly.

"Where is the child in question?" asked Mr. Graves.

Melody's expression was positively scathing.

"I am currently attempting to help Credence learn how to control his magic... he has been having panic attacks as his magical core has been lashing out since he was never picked up by any of the schools, or taught how to control it. I refuse to parade him around the chamber like some sort of prized bird simply because you want to feel superior. Children are supposed to be cherished, not treated like tools," she snarled.

However Piquiry latched on to her choice of wording.

"Lashing out?"

"Those creature attacks that have been plaguing your city? That was the result of his magic trying to find an outlet. If he had been found and trained _properly_ all of this could have been avoided. As it is, he's still suffering from panic attacks whenever he believes he's done something wrong. I'm not entirely sure what his mother did to him, but he's come to equate overt magic use with pain and suffering," she replied in a flat tone.

Seeing the woman's nose flare, Melody already knew _exactly_ what she was planning to say.

Credence would likely be _very_ unwelcome in his home country until his magic was under control, but they had been planning to explore the world anyway.

However it was Graves that had her full attention.

She was sooo going to enjoy ripping that arrogant bastard a new one. Especially when she blew his cover wide open.

Graves didn't see her spell coming. The chamber was pouring out, and Melody was close enough that there was no way he could reasonably _dodge_ in time to avoid being at least clipped.

And the spell she had in mind was one that wouldn't get her arrested outright.

"_Finite Incantatum!"_ she snarled, and the spell flew.

Newt stared at his fiancee in shock, before realization hit as the glamour spell around Mr. Graves unraveled.

The chamber was silent as shock descended upon everyone there.

Grindelwald's mask had been exposed, revealing his true self.

"I found it _highly_ suspicious when Credence showed me the necklace you gave him and told him to be on the lookout for a _magical_ child of considerable power. You'll find that not everyone is a blind sheep unable to put the clues together," said Melody coldly.

In her hand was the necklace she had borrowed from Credence... it was something he had parted when once she explained why she needed it for a short period of time. The fact she enlightened him to the significance behind the odd shape had helped.

There was no way for even Grindelwald to walk out of that chamber unscatched with his disguise forcibly ripped apart. Not that he didn't make an effort, however he was unprepared against Newt and Melody who worked in tandem.

At least they were able to release Frank the Thunderbird safely, though they were unable to visit Arizona.

Considering how much arid desert they had been traveling through, Melody was perfectly fine with that. There was, however, a slight problem.

"What do you mean that the next boat to England comes in a week?"

She had made it clear, she wanted them _gone_ from her jurisdiction as soon as humanly possible. Even if they _did_ exposed Grindelwald, the fact remained that Credence's condition had caused a lot of trouble and mayhem that they were forced to clean up.

The fact Newt's book was ready to be published was a minor side note, really.

Melody scowled, before a thought occurred to her.

"Hey Newt... didn't you mention wanting to surprise your family with Maleficent?" said Melody, a wicked gleam appearing in her eyes.

While it was upsetting that they had to erase Jacob's memory, Melody made sure that the man would be well funded with a mystery 'sponsor' so he could open up his bakery. As far as he knew, someone had overheard his dream to open up a small business and had been willing to fund the venture for a share of the profits.

She fully planned to insure his bakery survived the crash of the stock market.

It took Newt a few moments to cotton on, but the same wicked gleam appeared in his eyes as well.

On the plus side, she didn't think they had any proper radar to detect massive dragons flying around...

* * *

Credence had the spike in front of him in a veritable death grip, while Angel was safely secure in front of Newt.

Though the teen was openly terrified (he had never been so high up), he was also exhilarated. There was nothing quite like flying dragon back, and Melody had made sure to give everyone a chance to enjoy the sight of flying over England once they were close enough.

To be fair, he had never thought it possible to reach England from New York in less than a month. And yet it had taken less than twelve hours for Melody to accomplish just that.

Though Newt did wonder _what_ exactly Melody had told Tina Goldstein before they left that had the woman flush.

_Newt... you do realize you'll have to direct me to your family's estate. I have absolutely no idea where it is._

Newt would not deny the wicked grin he had on his face. He had been anticipating this particular arrival ever since he realized Melody was a dragon animagus who had a wicked sense of humor. This particular scenario had played in his head many a time, and he was rather _gleeful_ that he could witness the expression on his family's faces (especially Theseus) once they realized who was riding a massive dragon.

The fact he could sense Melody's implied mischief across the strange mental bond they had made it all the better.

At least the President of MACUSA had expedited the full adoption paperwork the _second_ she realized it would get them to leave that much faster, as well as give Credence duo-citizenship in an attempt to make up for the fact that they had missed the fact that there had been an abused magical child that had slipped right under their very noses this entire time.

Did not change the fact that it would be at least a decade before Credence could reasonably return to his birthplace.

Newt eyed the scenery below him, and finally spotted some familiar features on the ground. He started directing Melody via their telepathic connection, because it was rather hard to speak as high as they were and still be heard.

Soon a familiar mansion comes into view. And Newt can _feel_ the mischief in her soul.

_So... do you want me to give them a major wake-up call or slip in unannounced?_

Newt took out the pocket telescope and scanned the home. When he saw Theseus, who was still unaware of what was about to happen, his face broke out into a grin.

"I do believe we should announce our presence," he said gleefully.

Newt wisely held onto Angel, and upon seeing that Credence hugged the spike in front of him a little tighter.

Melody let out a truly _earth-shattering_ roar, scaring the living daylights out of the occupants inside the house. It was like a hurricane had decided to drop itself on top of the mansion.

She circled around the house, giving the occupants a chance to run outside and figure out what the hell was going on, before primly landing on the ground. Newt was the only one who could hear her cackling, even as he managed to untie the ropes and carefully slide down Melody's wing with Angel in his arms.

Credence was still a bit shaken from the roar, and preferred to wait a few moments before he followed suit.

"Newton Scamander! What on earth have you done this time?!" shouted a very irate and feminine voice.

The witch was eyeing the dragon with open dismay and shock...it was going to be a nightmare to remove it.

Theseus, however, took one look at the dragon's eyes before realization hit.

"Really brother? You just _had_ to make an entrance."

Newt smiled with an unrepentant look on his face, and helped Credence stand once he slid off Melody's back.

Much to their collective shock, the dragon's wings folded around itself and began to shrink into far more human-like proportions.

Melody, once she had turned back, was leaning on Newt slightly and cackling.

Newt took one look at his mother's very unhappy countanance, and winced.

"Would it be possible for you to switch back into a dragon?"

"Oh no, you've been wanting to make that particular entrance ever since you figured out I was an animagus... you made this particular bed, so now you have to deal with your less than amused mother," said Melody laughing.

Theseus snorted with open amusement. Clearly the woman Newt had picked for his fiancee (he could see Grandmother's ring on her finger) had some sense.


	15. Chapter 15

Theseus made a point to waylay his mother before she started an outright interrogation the _second_ she saw Melody's ring. Out of all of them, she had been the one who would have eagerly strangled Leta Lestrange for betraying her son.

"Mother, a word."

"If this is about Newt's new love..."

"She's an Obscurial," Theseus interrupted.

Cold shock filled her features.

"Are you sure?"

"I performed the diagnostic charm myself. She's mostly stable, though I suspect that Newt is playing a very strong part in keeping her that way."

Obscurials were dangerous and if provoked could expose them all. So the idea of Newt _marrying_ one left her with trepidation in her heart.

"Can we trust her?"

"From what I've been able to ascertain, she's more terrified of him betraying her rather than the other way around," said Theseus after a moment.

He hadn't really spent much time around her, but he recognized the look in her eyes. Someone had betrayed her before, someone close. It was clear to him she was as damaged as any one of Newt's "creatures", and that he was a vital part in rehabilitating her. She would no more betray him than she would hurt him.

Though considering her animagus form, Theseus had the sneaking suspicion that if Melody ever encountered Leta Lestrange that the other witch would be confronted with a very pissed off dragoness all too willing to roast her for hurting Newt.

So she changed tactics. She wouldn't treat the new love of her youngest son's life as a potential snake like Lestrange had been... but she was determined to discover her intentions towards Newt.

* * *

_Some time later..._

"What are you intentions towards my son?"

Melody froze like a deer in the headlights.

"I... just want to be with him."

"Do you love him?"

"I barely know what romantic love is. However Newt is the first person to actually see me and not some ridiculous mental image he's built up in his head. With him I can actually be myself without having to hide behind some ridiculous mask," she admitted.

"How do I know you won't betray him?"

Like Leta, went unsaid but definitely implied.

Melody lost any sense of timidness and looked her dead in the eye. There was a sense of resolve and steel behind them.

"Let's get one thing straight. I am not some self-serving little fool who has no concept of loyalty. When someone earns my trust to the point I allow my defenses down, they have it for life. The only way I would even _consider_ betraying Newt would be if he were to commit an unforgiveable betrayal of what we have first. I would sooner die than hurt him in that way," said Melody with such conviction that you could feel the weight behind her words.

The older witch stared her down...and found a proud dragoness who hoarded those she loved as fiercely as a goblin hoarded gold.

She had seen how Newt interacted with his chosen fiancee, and had not been found wanting. There was genuine love between them, and it was clear that the young woman before her cared for her son deeply.

There was something that bothered her though.

"Why are you so quick to adopt children not your own? That boy, Credence, is more than old enough to go out on his own."

"Credence is my cousin through the Black family. His father, Pollux, had no issues with leaving a _muggle_ woman pregnant and alone with absolutely no support, and as an unfortunate side effect she grew to hate magic. I merely laid out his available options and fortunately he was willing to come with us, rather than stay with his abusive mother."

"And the little girl?"

"She's a muggleborn who was in a rural village, and they believed her to be a demon simply because she was able to manifest magic. They locked her in a shack when she turned her magic against them... I wasn't about to leave an innocent child in that situation."

It was clear Melody had a vast heart and adored children. She would make a good mother when the time came. Newt was already besotted with her.

"Hmph. In that case I suppose there is only one thing we should talk about then."

"And what's that?"

"When and where to have your wedding, dear."

"What?" said Melody, thrown completely off.

"We are rather protective of Newt, especially after what happened with Ms. Lestrange. I just wanted to be sure you weren't trying to take advantage of my youngest son," she clarified.

"You'll have to arrange things with the Potters," Melody blurted out without thinking.

"I thought your last name was Peverell?"

"Only because I have no desire to be accused of line theft, and because the head of the family has yet to formally recognize me. I _am_ a half-blood after all. Claiming the name of a distant ancestor kept people from bothering me about which family I belonged to while staying true to my roots."

"A sensible witch... I fully approve. If you truly are a Potter then that means we can follow proper protocol for this sort of event."

"If you like, you can borrow Hedwig. She's quite fast, as Newt can attest to," said Melody shyly.

* * *

Melody stared at Potter Manor with longing eyes. This was the first time she had ever actually stepped foot in her ancestral home, as the one in her time had been burned to the ground.

Charlus was the first one to help her out of the floo.

"I _hate_ Floo travel. I swear anything that doesn't involve actual flying refuses to agree with me," said Melody annoyed.

"What about apparition?"

"I spent a six month looking up the older ways of instant transportation just to avoid it. Took me a full month before I had that trick down pat," said Melody shuddering.

"Now this I have to see!" said Charlus eagerly.

"Perhaps we should wait until grandfather meets her, little brother."

Melody blinked, and looked past Charlus to a man who she had never met.

"Ah, right. Melody, this is my elder brother Hector. Hector, this is Melody Peverell...soon to be Scamander if that ring on her finger means anything," said Charlus.

"So this is the mystery witch that appeared on the tapestry."

Melody stood before the Potter Patriarch and had to fight the urge to flinch. She had never had to answer to her _family_ before, not without the weight of unreasonable expectations or demands trying to bow her back.

Her eyes met his and for a split second she almost thought he was using Legilmency.

His eyes softened.

"Tell me my dear, what do you know of our family?"

"Next to absolutely nothing. I know more about my paternal grandmother's family and that's only because I spent quite a bit of time hiding in the London Townhouse from idiots who seemed to think I just needed to 'settle down' with a nice witch or wizard to get over the trauma I suffered in the war."

"War?"

"A dark lord who came into power after Grindelwald. Though considering I know most of his personal history, I could just as easily nip that in the bud by adopting him or insuring a decent family takes him in. He had a particular habit of wiping out entire _families_ simply because they refused to support him or opposed him outright."

"Dear gods..." said Hector, eyes wide.

"And his minions, which were originally were called the Knights of Walpurgis but were later known as Death Eaters, took particular enjoyment in torture, rape and murder of those who were born of non-magical families. There were barely four hundred students collectively by the time I was attending, with the numbers only going up by the time I hit third and fourth year," said Melody. "Of course the number of casualties the first go around would have likely been much _lower_ if everyone and their grandmother hadn't waited until Albus bloody Dumbledore got off his arse and left his ivory towers to deal with the issue. He is a horrible wartime general and has no place in the battlefield."

"Albus Dumbledore? The transfiguration teacher?" said Hector confused.

"In my time he was not only the headmaster of the school, but the Supreme Mugwump and the head of the ICW. All because he beat Grindelwald in a duel, _after _several other witches and wizards had given their lives to wittle down his forces," said Melody in disgust. "The senile fool began to believe that in order for the 'greater good' to become reality, it was _acceptable_ to sacrifice the future and innocence of a single child when a prophecy became known. After all, what was one little girl in the face of thousands of magical children born to the English enclaves? And because he was _Albus Dumbledore_, the defeater of Grindelwald, no one dared to challenge his decisions."

Solemn silence.

"And of course, once the current dark lord was defeated, who better to place the same burden of _responsibility_ than the child who managed to rid them of the one terrorizing them for several decades?" spat Melody. "They were so eager to throw accolades onto a traumatized witch who hadn't even finished schooling because she was too busy trying to save their collective hides and who had never been given a chance to truly be a normal child, much less a teenager. It was _expected_ of me that I would become an Auror, that I would marry an 'acceptable' wizard and start popping out heirs while taking up the same ridiculous expectations that they had given Dumbledore. After all, I was his protoge."

"So what did you do?" asked Charlus.

"I holed myself up and started properly reading any book I could get my hands on. I avoided _everyone_, including my so-called best friends because they were so quick to try and bury what we went through during the war by settling down. But I wasn't like them. I couldn't simply forget, nor could I accept all that I had lost and move on. I believe Newt put it best when he saw my memories... I had been quite literally conditioned from early childhood to act as a martyr for 'the greater good' by everyone around me. Whether it was knowingly or accidental," said Melody tiredly. "If it hadn't been for Newt finding me after the accident with the time turner, I would have avoided the magical enclaves entirely or become a minor menace to Ministries everywhere trying to keep the Statute a secret."

"Does this have anything to do with the annoyed look Theseus gave Newt when I came over?" asked Charlus.

"It was Newt's idea, especially when he found out what my animagus form was! I simply humored him. Their reaction was hilarious."

"Okay, now I have to see what caused Theseus to look like _that_ when I asked how Newt introduced you to the family."

"We'd have to go outside if you want to properly meet Maleficent."

"...Isn't that the name of the sorceress from the muggle fairy tale involving a girl who falls into an enchanted sleep via a spindling wheel?" asked Hector.

"Oh good, so I don't have to explain the reference!" chirped Melody.

The expression on the Potter's faces when they saw Maleficent was almost as hilarious as the one the Scamander's had. The only difference was that she hadn't scared the crap out of them in the process.

It didn't take much for the Potters to add Credence and Angel to the family tapestry, even if the lines clearly indicated they were adopted.

On the plus side, there were _zero_ objections to her marrying Newt. The fact they were willing to supply Melody with a home for her and Newt to call theirs whenever they visited England was a nice surprise.

* * *

Credence looked at his new wand almost reverently. He was registered as a 'home-schooled' student, though he was a very quick with practicals. It was the written work he had trouble with.

Though he restricted his spellwork to the designated practice room. Because of his bloodline, he had a real knack for battle magic, hexes and curses.

However where his true passion lay, oddly enough, was herbology and potion making. He found it very soothing to work in the greenhouses for hours on end and just letting his thoughts unwind. Plants didn't judge you, and potions was like a mixture of chemistry and cooking. So long as you knew how to follow basic recipes, you could create all sorts of things.

It went unsaid that with guardians like Newt and Melody, he also had a love of creatures. One of the kneazles had already claimed the awkward teen as _hers_, and would jump on his shoulder to coil around his neck. The first few times Credence had been very startled, but now he barely registered her presence at all.

He tentatively named her Aria, in honor of his 'big sister' as Melody insisted he call her. She wasn't trying to replace his mother and she acted like a cheerful older sibling anyway.

This was his first ever wand, and now he wouldn't have to keep borrowing the family wands to practice his magic.

The room he originally thought was for punishment had quickly turned into a godsend. He could go in there when he was frustrated at his progress in getting to where he should have been, let everything out, and come out with a calmer head to try again.

It helped. Immeasurably.

Being able to openly exercise his frustrations in a controlled manner, to destroy without being reprimanded or told off and let everything out without fear... it gave him a sense of control he hadn't realized he was sorely lacking. And Melody did _more_ that simply teach him magic. She taught him how to think and patiently explained why certain magics were to be avoided or had to be handled with care and patience. She was the one to instill a love of the earth and growing things.

Weeding might be tedious, but it was also relaxing because he didn't have to think and allowed his mind to unwind.

Melody smiled with understanding.

"It's intoxicating isn't it? To finally have a proper outlet tuned specifically to you. It gives you a freedom quite unlike anything else."

Credence clutched his wand tightly.

"And it's all yours," said Melody.

All his. The very words made Credence giddy, because Melody had offered him more than simply power... she had given him freedom, acceptance and the love of a family.


End file.
